Carolyn's Various Travels: Day 4

I had purchased tickets for Westminster Abbey right at the 30 day limit when they go on sale. I was even able to get a Hidden Treasures ticket (capped at 15) for some behind the scenes spaces in the Abbey. We had entry at 11, so we had a leisurely morning. I couldn't resist snapping a shot of Big Ben, even though I have several good ones I've taken over the years. The clock face is always startlingly huge. We passed the small square across from Parliament and for the first time I can remember, there were no demonstrators there. I don't know if there was a crack down on allowing demonstrations there or what? Seems like there is always something to protest.

I've visited the Abbey probably 3 or 4 times in the past 20 years. My impressions have not really changed. It doesn't feel much like a worship space to me. It's more of a cemetery, with dead monarchs going back ages. I saw one person impossibly trying to avoid stepping on grave markers on the floor. Every inch of the building is covered with monuments, plaques, memorials, etc. There's nothing wrong with this, the length of its history is stunning, but it doesn't feel worshipful to me. Apparently most of these were added during the Victorian era and afterwards. I imagine the space looked much different prior to that.

Despite the time entry, the space was packed with people - All with audio guides in their ears and paying no attention to anyone else around them. I tried to be patient, but after an hour or so, I was really tired of being jostled by people. Still, the architecture is beautiful. The space is so tall!

This picture was actually taken at the end of the day as we were on our way out. The nave was already closed to visitors and the space was blissfully empty.

This mosaic floor has seen monarchs crowned for 700 years!

View from the galleries above.

"side plank" anyone?

One of my favorite spaces. Its a chapel that was added on to the front of the abbey by Henry VII - Lady's Chapel. The ceiling is amazing, and I really like the standards too - very colorful. I would have really enjoyed listening to a choir sing in this space.

Each seat in the choir has the coat of arms for the personage who gets to sit in that seat for special occasions. I'm not clear at all what such occasions are.

The Chapter house (above) was one of the less crazy spaces in Westminster Abbey. Only a handful of people were there when I came in. The room is light and airy with a cool, single pillar suspending the multi-vaulted ceiling. Much of the stained glass was damaged in WWII, but some dates back to the 1850s.

These paintings in the Chapter house (monk's meeting space) date back to the 1300's! Much of the wall space in this chamber is blank, but these paintings are in remarkable condition. There is nothing that tells about whether they were uncovered and restored or what.

The tiled floor is original (and mostly covered up to protect it). The patterns were made by stamping the pattern into the clay, then filling the impression with lighter colored clay, then glazing and firing them. These are original floors dating back to the 1200s.

I liked the sculptures above the door. To the left is the archangel Gabriel, to the right is May, with Christ in the center. These were added in the Victorian era.

The Pyx - One of the oldest parts of the Abbey - underneath the monks dormitories. Used as a strong room for valuables for many years, with iron bars on the windows and two doors (below) with 6 locks.

Our Hidden Highlights tour was with a guide named Edward who was a fount of knowledge (in a way that did not leave a non-Brit totally lost). He took us into several functional rooms used by the Abbey leadership. These were rooms that were used in preparation for the coronation of King Charles. This is the Jericho room (it had a huge closet with priestly garments).

The circles of stained glass here pre-dated the reign of Henry VIII (early 1500s). He ended the reign of the Catholic church in England (and started the Anglican church). The crossed keys here are a Catholic/Papal symbol. It is rare that such an artifact remains because people vandalized and destroyed many such objects after Henry VIII ousted the Catholic church.

This room is a functional meeting room for the Dean of the Abbey (the Jerusalem room).

The wooden beamed roof was quite fancy. The R with a crown was for Richard II who built this extension onto the Abbey.

Our guide pointed out how the priceless Flemish tapestries had been so poorly treated in this room. They took this one from another palace and hung it on the wall here, but had to chop it to fit. If you look in the bottom, left corner, you can see it was cut to allow for a hidden door to be able to open. The guide said a tapestry expert had come through on the tour once and had been appalled. She said if the Abbey ever wanted to give up the tapestery, her institution would take it and repair it (and treat it properly!)

This is part of the Deanery, a lovely courtyard space next to the dining hall for the Abbey School. A bomb fell in this courtyard in WWII, taking out most of the building directly to the right of the frame.

The school's dining hall reminds me of Hogwarts. It is a "public school", meaning its open to members of the public, but only if you have 50,000 pounds/year to spend. There are about 700 students.

The dining hall used to have an open fire in the center of the floor for heating. The smoke would exit through this open space in the roof (now glassed in).

The next room we visited was the library (once the monk's dormitory). The guide told us no pictures (and meant it). He would be in trouble if we took any, so I managed to restrain myself. The whole room smelled of old books and it had a lot of OLD books! He said they used to be bolted and chained to the book cases and had to be read on small fold out racks set in each book case. The library/dormitory sat along the other side of the wall you see here in the south transcept of the church. The monks had a special entry directory from the dormitories. If you look toward the top of the photo on the right, you'll see a partial set of steps leading from the dormitory.

This is the same view from above. You can see an open workspace (part of the existent library) that was not visible from below. The stairs on the left side of the photo.

Our behind the scenes tour ended with a visit to the Queen's Diamond Jubilee Galleries above the floor of the nave. If you know me, you know I am all about climbing up to the highest point for a good view, so this was awesome! Looking up, the Gallery is the smaller row of arches in the wall, below the top glassed-in windows. [Randomly, of all the chandeliers in the building, the one in the center here was the only mismatched one.]

This is a view from the gallery level, looking across the nave.

This is a view from within the galleries, looking down the length of the building.

Our guide. This sarcophagus was found on the north side of the Abbey and dates to 300 AD. It's original occupant was Roman (Latin text engraved on the side), but the body inside was Saxon and dated to about 900 AD (and the cross on top was added). #rude removing the previous burial for another one.

In case you were wondering how they got a giant sarcophagus up a bunch of stairs to the gallery level, they didn't! They put a hole in the ceiling and lowered it in with a big crane!

The framed glass panels above and below are fragments of painted glass from Henry II's rebuilding of the Abbey in 1245. I thought the display against the current flower windows was beautiful.

Painted image of Katherine of Aragon (Henry VIIIs first wife) on glass from 1520.

This was a really cool device that creates an illusion of distance looking down the length of the Abbey. (See below)

There were quite a few items displayed in this space, including a number of effigy frames and clothing from effigies. Some of the textiles they had dated back to 1377 from King Edward III's burial.

One of the two Coronation chairs is up in the Galleries (the other in on exhibit behind glass by the exit). A second one was created when a queen was coronated along with her husband the king. The older one used to sit in the church and people could actually sit in it. Many carved their initials in it and defaced it for years before it was finally removed for preservation.

Lovely windows in the galley

One of my favorite photos of the day, looking down the length of the nave from the galley level.

I feel like the story of my day was "no pictures please". I wasn't supposed to take pictures down below, so I sneaked this when the staff member wasn't looking.

This is one of the Magna Carta documents. The notation with this display dates it to 1300 and says it is one of 24 remaining 'original' charters. I did some further reading and apparently this agreement (that no one, including the king, is above the law) was first made in 1215 by King John, and re-agreed to six times by later kings. It is estimated that about 250 versions with copied during this period to make sure it was documented and carried out. BBC article

I love architecture and angles. I kept trying to get some cool shots through the stonework. This shows a neat view of the cathedral ceiling in the distance.

Similar view but with the flower window in the distance.

Flower window seen through the flower window.

Exterior view.

Yet another instance when I was told to "step down please" from the bench where I was standing to capture this photo (there were hoards of people below me and I just wanted the glass and stonework, not the people)