Walking in the country: Westminster Abbey

Wednesday 24 April 2019

Westminster Abbey

We were on holiday recently in Milan, where we made a thorough exploration of the magnificent Duomo as part of seeing some of the main sights of the city. After we got home, it struck me that although we have seen many of England's great Cathedrals (Lincoln, Salisbury, Norwich, Canterbury, Hereford ...), we have never been inside Westminster Abbey. I decided that I would treat Ange to a surprise visit there.

The first Minster was completed in 1065, but most of what you see today was built 1245-1272, in the reign of Henry III, as a new shrine for the remains of Edward the Confessor. The nave was not completed until 1498 and the vaulting not until 1517. The splendid west towers (see above) were only added in 1745, by Nicholas Hawksmoor.

Our first sight of the Abbey was the North Transept, seen from Parliament Square, where demonstrators against climate change were pretty much outnumbered by the police. The North transept is the main entrance, but you have to go round to the left of the main facade to get there.

Once inside, I reached for my camera to start taking a some pics. My first one was the Queen's Window, designed (on his iPad, naturally) by David Hockney. At this point there were loud cries of "no photography" so I stopped - hence the use of scanned postcards for much of this post.

Inside there is a route to follow which leads you initially into the magnificent nave ...

... and then into the elaborate Quire and Sanctuary. In front of the High Altar is the beautiful Cosmati Pavement started in 1268 and constructed by Italian craftsmen led by a man named Odoricus (how wonderful the name of the master craftsman has been preserved until today!).

Carrying on towards the east end of the church you pass the Edward the Confessor's chapel and the north ambulatory where the tombs of a great array of kings and queens are to be found including Henry III and Henry V.

This leads into the Lady Chapel, whose construction was ordered by Henry VII. At ground level, in the nort aisle, are the tombs of Henry himself and Elizabeth I and Mary I. I was absolutely stunned by the quality of the fan vaulting, which to me seemed even more remarkable than that at St George's Chapel in Windsor or in the chapel of King's College, Cambridge.

This was magnificent, but it was quickly followed by another surprise. After a brief review of Poet's Corner, we climbed the stairs to see The Queen's Diamond Jubilee Galleries, having been give the tip off when we entered the Abbey that we should not miss it. The Galleries occupy an unusual area known as the Triforium, a space above part of both transepts and the crossing. It was floored and strengthened by Wren in the 18th century. This area now houses a wealth of interesting material. The highlight for me was an effigy of the head and shoulders Henry VII made from his death mask. It was highly lifelike and you can really what a tough and determined man he was.

Perhaps even better than the artifacts on display are the incredible views along the nave. I have never seen a nave from a vantage point near the roof: it was an incredible sight. If only to gift shop had a photo!

I did take one guerilla photo however on my way down the stairs: the Houses of Parliament just across the way.

We passed Poet's corner and admired the wonderful rose window in the South Transept.

We entered the cloister to first of all see the wonderful Chapter House, which was begin in 1250.

There were some fine medieval wall paintings on the wall on the left hand side.

A little further along the Cloister was the strangely named Pyx chamber, which, along with the Undercroft was built around 1070-80 and is therefore one of the oldest parts of the Abbey. It contained a pyx, a box containing standard pieces of gold or silver against which the coinage was tested annually.