Westminster Abbey

Write a guide for the use of a visitor from another planet.

Religions such as Christianity often feel the need to erect great monuments to worship their God(s). Westminster Abbey is one of the most famous churches in Britain, ranked along with St Paul’s and Winchester. England has been a Christian country for one and a half thousand years, since its days as part of the Roman Empire, which in its day spanned all of Europe and most of North Africa. In Christianity’s case, a large part of their worship resides in the crucifix, a Roman form of torture and death, a cross on which people were nailed to and left to die.

Due to a dislike of his wife, a particular fondness for one of his wife’s ladies and such matters being greatly frowned upon by the Catholic Church (the only form of Christianity at the time), King Henry VIII created his own church to give him a divorce: The Protestant Church, also sacking all of the catholic churches and abbeys in the process. This became known as the Reformation.

The British rulers have, until a few centuries ago, forced their beliefs upon the country, sometimes to horrific effect. During the reign of the Tudor monarchs, the country was changed from being Catholic to Protestant and back again. Due to a mix of blind faith and God-given power, the British monarchs had thousands killed for refusing to renounce their faith.

But Westminster Abbey’s origins begin much earlier in history. The first building on the site was a small Benedictine monastery founded in 960AD by King Edgar and St Dunstan. King Edward I (later St Edward the Confessor) had most of the monastery rebuilt, resulting in a large stone church known as the ‘west minster’, to distinguish it from the ‘east minster’, St Paul’s. Unfortunately, when the building was finished on 28th December 1065, the King was on his deathbed, slowly wasting away. The most important ceremonies held in this original building were Edward’s funeral and the coronation of his successor the next year, William the Conqueror.

The only remnants of this monastery are the monk’s dormitories, now housing the Abbey Museum, and the PYX chamber, originally a cellar and latter used for storing royal treasures. It was in fact not until the mid 1300s that any major changes occurred – it was Henry III, who had it rebuilt in the Gothic style, which was used in the famous cathedrals built in that century: the English Canterbury, Winchester and Salisbury and the French Amiens, Evreux and Chatrês. For Westminster Abbey was not only going to be a place to worship and thank God, but also a royal ...

This is a preview of the whole essay

In 1540 Elizabeth I made the abbey a ‘Royal Peculiar’ and a Collegiate Church. The abbey became in part a place for daily worship with a choir and organist and in part a school for 40 scholars. The entire system was not answerable to the bishops. The Dean and the Chapter were also responsible for governing much of Westminster.

The North Transept is a huge structure that towers over the abbey lawn and courtyard next to Victoria Street. Its circular window is known as a ‘stain glass’ window, created by fitting tiny shards of different coloured glass into a metal framework. Due to pollution, its splendour is invisible except in the morning with direct sunlight, but if it was cleaned, it would indeed be a sight.

It is a magnificent entrance, and upon entering (after the customary bag check and extraordinary ticket charge), you are at once hit by the sheer enormity of the building.

The entrance hall is lined with the statues of Britain’s great: Gladstone, Disraeli, Robert Peel, Admiral Palmerston and many others. If we turn left around the sanctuary, we see the rooms which house the tombs and memorials to saints such as St Michael and St John the Baptist. These ornate chambers are dedicated to many men who were at the forefront of British Christianity in their time.

St Edward the Confessor has his own chapel around the corner. His first shrine was built in 1163, soon after his canonisation. It was when Henry III rebuilt the abbey that he hired Italian craftsmen (under Peter the Roman) to build the current chapel and shrine. Since the Reformation the beautiful shrine was dismantled, the golden reliquary stolen by Henry VIII’s troops. The remnants were re-assembled in the reign of his daughter, Mary I. Surrounding this are the tombs of all monarchs from Henry III to Henry V. Just outside is the coronation chair, kept here since Elizabeth II’s coronation.

Up the stairs and to the left is the chapel of Queen Elizabeth, arguably the Abbey’s most generous benefactor. Her marble tomb is huge, with a full length statuette of her covered by a carved canopy. Her half-sister, Mary I, is buried underneath Elizabeth.

Then we go up to wonderful The Lady Chapel. Its brilliant fan-vault ceiling is truly amazing (from my description you might be able to tell what I think of it). It was by for the Knights of the Order of the Bath, an ancient and prestigious military order. Behind the altar lie Henry VII and his wife, Elizabeth of York. Behind this is the altar which stands for all the pilots of the Royal Air Force who have died for their country.

Next is the chapel of Mary, Queen of Scots. A claimant to the throne of England and a fervent Catholic, she was executed by Elizabeth I in 1587. Despite this, Elizabeth (her half cousin) had her buried formally in Peterborough Cathedral, to be later reburied by Elizabeth’s successor and Mary’s son, James I of England and VI of Scotland.

After walking down the softly curving corridor, you end up in the South Transept. There is a beautiful stained glass window, with six saints in glass below. In the corners are two censing angels, described as being among the finest in Europe.

Poets Corner was not originally designed for poets, writers and playwrights. The tradition started when the author and poet Geoffrey Chaucer was buried here, not for his creative talents and for his Canterbury Tales, but for his position as quantity surveyor at Westminster Palace. 150 years later a larger memorial was laid here for him as an author and later Edmund Spenser was laid to rest here. Hence the tradition began.

The most famous British literary cognoscenti rest here, Chaucer, Shakespeare, Kipling, Dickens, Hardy, Eliot, Dryden, Wordsworth, Keats, Blake, Tennyson, Handel and the Bronté sisters all have their own memorials. The walls and floors are covered in plaques and lined with busts which commemorate the British great.

The cloisters were, before the Reformation, the busiest part of the monastery. With rushes on the floor and fires burning, monks would meditate and exercise. The east cloister led to the Chapter House. In the east cloister novices would be taught by the novice master. The bathing rooms were also located here (although on average each monk washed twice a year). In the north cloister tables, chairs and bookcases were set out, so that the monks could study. The south led to the Refectory, for meals.

The Chapter House is an amazing show of human ingenuity. A soon as you walk in, you see the sunlight streaming in through the windows. It fills you with a sense of harmony.

Built in the 1250s, the monks would sit on the benches lining the wall, to read a chapter from the rule of St Benedict or to discuss the running of the abbey. From 1257 until the late 14th century it was used by Parliament to hold their meetings.

The PYX Chamber next to the Chapter House was part of the original monastery of the Confessor’s time. Originally a store room for the monks, it was probably used as a temporary sacristy during the rebuilding of the abbey by Henry III, hence the ancient altar. It later became a store room for the royal treasury in the 13th century, but it was burgled in 1303 and the Abbot and several other monks were confined to the Tower of London (a royal prison used only for high-profile criminals/political prisoners. It has an incredibly bloody past) but were later released. The doors became fortified, changed for oak and with steel bars running across to reinforce it.

The room is named after the wooden boxes which contained the coins from which were to be tested for purity and the quantity of silver/gold.

After walking along the South and West Cloisters, around the peaceful garden, you enter the nave, the west side of the church. Here are many more memorials, the so called Scientists’ Corner commemorating many great minds: Darwin, Newton, Livingstone and Purcell. Probably the most famous grave there is that of the Unknown Warrior. To remember all the thousands, millions, of unburied soldiers who died in the WW1 a nameless soldier was brought across from France in the HMS Verdun to be buried in among the great of Britain.

So we come to the end of our tour. We at Westminster hope that you enjoyed your visit.