Back To Westminster Abbey!

Today we returned to Westminster Abbey in smaller groups to tour the inside! IT WAS INCREDIBLE! I suddenly found myself wanting to study world religions…I was fascinated by the all of the tombs/monuments, the religious figures of angels and demons.  It has been my favorite thing so far in London. Unfortunately we were not permitted to take pictures inside the Abbey.  If ever you travel to London you REALLY need to tour Westminster Abbey.

The Abbey is a Royal Mausoleum with over 3300 people buried in it between 1262 -1762 – Tudor Monarchs included. It was originally a small parish started up by Monks – social working monks – in the 10^th Century – 900AD.  When Edward the Confessor came along 100 years later – Anglo Saxon king who was called The Confessor because people actually confessed to him. He wanted to build a palace where the Abbey was and so he started to but died only a few months after it was started. The construction stops and does not start up again for 200 years later when Henry the III comes to power.  Henry III dies before it is completed and the building again stops for about 80 years. The Abbey is a classic example of palimpsest – you can tell by looking at the spears of the Abbey because they vary in size and design.

The inside is indescribable, stone after stone sculpted designed and incredibly structured. I am amazed that so many years ago such architecture was possible. In the Abbey we saw the tomb of Eduard the Confessor, Queen Elizabeth and Queen Mary were buried side by side, Mary Queen of Scotts, King Henry the VII, King Henry the VII’s only son Edward is also buried in the Abbey and the last king to be buried at the Abbey was King George.

The composer George Frederick Handel is also buried at the Abbey. In the Poets Corner Geoffrey Chaucer was the first poet to be buried at Westminster.  Charles Dickens, Thomas Hardy and Rudyard Kipling are all buried next to each other as well.  Lord Byron and Lewis Carroll have memorials at the Abbey Poets Corner but are not buried there.

The only commoner buried at the Abbey is Thomas Parr, he dies at 152yrs old – some believe that he “dooped” the king into believing he was 152yrs old which is why he was allowed to be buried in the Abbey.

The High Alter floor in the Abbey is Cosmati pavement; this is a unique and complex design.  Of course we did not walk on it but we saw it and for having been around since the 1200’s it was in good condition. There was one spot that was cleaned and polished to reveal the vibrant and rich color of the pavement and it was indeed beautiful.

One of the first females on stage was Anne Bracecirdle who is also buried at the Abbey, she was well known and admired in the theatre during her time.

I can’t say that I have read the work of Aphra Ben, but I am aware that she was one of the first female writers to actually publish and make money off of her writing as well as being a great influence on many women.

"All women together, ought to let flowers fall upon the grave of Aphra Behn... for it was she who earned them the right to speak their minds."

We didn’t have flowers to take into the Abbey but we stood over her tomb; that was pretty dang awesome. 

The Chapter house at the Abbey was heavily bombed destroying all of the glass but the building stood strong; It was used by the monks for reading out loud and conducting business. It was later used by Parliament for 100 years until the House of Parliament was built. In the 14^th century the Monks were back in the Chapter house and they painted scenes of the Old Testament around it.  The palm trees are symbolic of Christ entering – there is a lot of symbolism in the Abbey.

Other buried in the Abbey:

Isaac Newton

Ben Johnson

Charles Darwin (there is a gargoyle sticking its tongue out at Darwin’s grave)

Henry Purcell

Winston Churchill

Ralph Vaughn Williams

The Unknown Soldier (representing all the fallen Soldiers in WWI)

The real Coronation chair, a 100 year old portrait of Richard II – which is the oldest surviving portrait of a Monarch around, is also in the Abbey.