Notre Dame de Rouen. The façade of the Gothic Church in France. Photographer: Hippo1947. Licence: SHUTTERSTOCK.

Wednesday, 17 August 2022

Westminster Abbey (Part Six).




English: Rose Window, Westminster Abbey.
Magyar: Westminster-apátság, az északi rózsaablak, Sir James Thornhill alkotása (az üvegmozaikokon 11 apostol figurájával) (London, Egyesült Királyság).
Photo: 8 May 2006.
Source: Transferred from hu.wikipedia to Commons.
(Wikimedia Commons)


Text from Wikipedia - the free encyclopædia,
unless stated otherwise.

Westminster School and Westminster Abbey Choir School are also in the precincts of the Abbey. The Choir School educates and trains the Choirboys, who sing for Services in the Abbey.[79]

Westminster Abbey is renowned for its Choral Tradition, and the repertoire of Anglican Church Music is heard in Daily Worship, particularly at the Service of Choral Evensong.[80][81]

The Organ was built by Harrison & Harrison in 1937, then with four Manuals and eighty-four Speaking Stops, and was used for the first time at the coronation of King George VI. Some pipework from the previous Hill organ of 1848 was revoiced and incorporated in the new scheme. The two organ cases, designed and built in the late 19th century by John Loughborough Pearson, were re-instated and coloured in 1959.[82]


Writ of King Edward the Confessor to Westminster Abbey granting land at Perton, Staffordshire, England.
Date: Circa 1062 - 1066.
Author: Unknown.
(Wikimedia Commons)


In 1982 and 1987, Harrison & Harrison enlarged the Organ under the direction of the, then, Abbey Organist, Simon Preston, to include an additional Lower Choir Organ and a Bombarde Organ: The current instrument now has five Manuals and 109 Speaking Stops.

In 2006, the Console of the Organ was refurbished by Harrison & Harrison, and space was prepared for two additional 16ft Stops on the Lower Choir Organ and the Bombarde Organ.[82]

The current Organist and Master of the Choristers, James O’Donnell, has been in Post since 2000.[83]


The entrance to The Chapter House, Westminster Abbey.
Photo: 27 September 2006.
(Wikimedia Commons)


The Bells at the Abbey were overhauled in 1971. The Ring is now made up of ten Bells, hung for Change Ringing, cast in 1971 by The Whitechapel Bell Foundry, tuned to the notes F#, E, D, C#, B, A, G, F#, E and D.

The Tenor Bell, in D (588.5 Hz), has a weight of thirty cwt,
1 qtr, 15 lb (3403 lb or 1544 kg).[84]

In addition, there are two Service Bells, cast by Robert Mot, in 1585 and 1598, respectively, a Sanctus Bell, cast in 1738 by Richard Phelps and Thomas Lester, and two unused Bells – one Bell cast about 1320, by the successor to R. de Wymbish, and a second Bell, cast in 1742, by Thomas Lester.[84]



“O, Magnum Mysterium”.
Westminster Cathedral Choir.
Available on YouTube at


The two Service Bells and the 1320 Bell, along with a fourth, small, Silver, “Dish Bell”, kept in the Refectory, have been noted as being of historical importance by The Church Buildings Council of The Church of England.[85]

The Chapter House was built concurrently with the East parts of the Abbey under King Henry III, between 1245 and 1253.[86] It was restored by Sir George Gilbert Scott in 1872. The Entrance is approached from the East Cloister Walk and includes a Double Doorway with a large Tympanum, above.[86]

Inner and Outer Vestibules lead to the Octagonal Chapter House. It is built in a Geometrical Gothic Style with an Octagonal Crypt, below. A Pier of eight Shafts carries the Vaulted Ceiling.


Coat-of-Arms, Westminster Abbey.
Blazon:
Azure, a Cross Patonce between · five Martlets Or; and on a Chief Or a Pale Quarterly of France Modern and England between two Roses Gules Barbed and Seeded Proper.
Date: 16 September 2021.
Source: Own work.
Artist: Fenn-O-maniC
(Wikimedia Commons)


To the sides, are Blind Arcading, remains of 14th-Century Paintings and numerous Stone Benches, above which are innovatory large Four-Light, Quatre-Foiled, Windows.[86] These are virtually contemporary with The Sainte-Chapelle, Paris.[86]

The Chapter House has an original Mid-13th-Century tiled Pavement. A Door, made with wood from a single tree grown in Hainault Forest, within the Vestibule, dates from around 1050 and is one of the oldest in Britain.[87][88]

The Exterior includes Flying Buttresses, added in the 14th-Century, and a leaded Tent-Lantern Roof on an iron frame, designed by Scott.


The Coronation of Queen Victoria, Westminster Abbey.
Date: 1839.
Artist: John Martin (1789–1854).
Collection: Tate Britain.
Source/Photographer: [1]
(Wikimedia Commons)


The Chapter House was originally used in the 13th-Century by Benedictine Monks for daily meetings. It later became a meeting place of The King’s Great Council and The Commons, predecessors of Parliament.[89]

The Pyx Chamber formed the Undercroft of the Monks’ Dormitory. It dates to the Late-11th-Century and was used as a Monastic and Royal Treasury.

The Outer Walls and Circular Piers are of 11th-Century date, several of the Capitals were enriched in the 12th-Century, and the Stone Altar added in the 13th-Century.


The Coronation of King George IV, Westminster Abbey.
Date: 19 July 1821.
Artist: James Stephanoff (1786–1874).
(Wikimedia Commons)


The term “Pyx” refers to the Boxwood Chest in which coins were held and presented to a Jury during the Trial of the Pyx, in which newly-minted coins were presented to ensure they conformed to the required standards.[90]

The Chapter House and Pyx Chamber at Westminster Abbey are in the guardianship of English Heritage, but under the care and management of The Dean and Chapter of Westminster.[89]


The Westminster Abbey Museum was located in the 11th-Century Vaulted Undercroft beneath the former Monks’ Dormitory in Westminster Abbey. This was one of the oldest areas of the Abbey, dating back almost to the Foundation of the Church by Edward the Confessor in 1065.

This space had been used as a Museum since 1908[91], but was closed to the public in June 2018, when it was replaced as a Museum by The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Galleries, high up in the Abbey Triforium.[53]

The Westminster Abbey Web-Site can be accessed HERE

This concludes the Article on Westminster Abbey.

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