Westminster Abbey (Part Three).

The Cloisters, Westminster Abbey.

Photo: 12 July 2009.

Source: Own work.

Author: Radosław Botev

(Wikimedia Commons)

Text from Wikipedia - the free encylopædia,

unless stated otherwise.

On 11 June 1914, a bomb planted by Suffragettes of the Women's Social and Political Union exploded inside the Abbey.[36][37]

The Abbey was busy with visitors, with around eighty – 100 people in the building when the bomb exploded.[38][39] Some were as close as twenty yards from the bomb and the explosion caused a panic for the exits, but no serious injuries were reported.[39] The bomb had been packed with nuts and bolts to act as shrapnel.[39]

The bomb was part of a campaign of bombing and arson attacks carried out by Suffragettes nationwide between 1912 and 1914.[36]

Westminster Abbey Choir

and The Choristers of The Chapel Royal.
Available on YouTube at
YOU TUBE

Churches were a particular target during the campaign, as it was believed that The Church of England was complicit in reinforcing opposition to women’s suffrage - thirty-two Churches were attacked between 1913 and 1914.[40][41]

Coincidentally, at the time of the explosion, The House of Commons, only 100 yards away, was debating how to deal with the violent tactics of the Suffragettes.[39] Many in The Commons heard the explosion and rushed to the scene.[39]

Two days after the Westminster Abbey bombing, a second Suffragette bomb was discovered before it could explode in Saint Paul’s Cathedral.[36]

The Henry VII Chapel,

Westminster Abbey.

Photo: 29 May 2021.

Source: Own work.

Author: JRennocks

(Wikimedia Commons)

The bomb in Westminster Abbey blew off a corner of The Coronation Chair.[36][37] It also caused The Stone of Scone to break in half, although this was not discovered until 1950, when four Scottish nationalists broke into the Church to steal the Stone and return it to Scotland.[37]

Westminster suffered minor damage during The Blitz on 

15 November 1940. Then, on 10 May 1941, the Westminster Abbey precincts and roof were hit by incendiary bombs. All the bombs were extinguished by ARP wardens, except for one bomb which ignited out of reach among the Wooden Beams and Plaster Vault of The Lantern Roof (of 1802) over The North Transept.

Flames rapidly spread and burning Beams and Molten Lead began to fall on the Wooden Stalls, Pews and other Ecclesiastical fixtures 130 feet (40 m) below.

English: Rose Window,

The North Transept, 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.

Author: Kiss Tamás (Kit36a at Hungarian Wikipedia)

(Wikimedia Commons)

Despite the falling debris, the Staff dragged away as much furniture as possible before withdrawing. Finally, The Lantern Roof crashed down into The Crossing, preventing the fires from spreading further.[42]

The Joint Committee, responsible for assembling The New English Bible, met twice a year at Westminster Abbey in the 1950s and 1960s.[43]

In the 1990s, two Icons by the Russian Icon Painter, Sergei Fyodorov, were hung in the Abbey.[44] In 1997, the Abbey, which was then receiving approximately 1.75 million visitors each year, began charging admission fees to visitors.[45]

Memorials of Poets' Corner, Westminster Abbey, including

a sculpture of actor David Garrick taking his final bows.

Photo: 31 May 2021.

Source: Own work.

Author: JRennocks

(Wikimedia Commons)

[Editor: It must be noted that The Church of England does not charge admission fees for anyone attending a Church “in order to Pray”. If anyone demands Entrance Money at a Church of England Church, the answer of “I have come here to Pray” will permit free entrance to the building.]

On 6 September 1997, the funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales, was held at the Abbey.[46] On 17 September 2010, Pope Benedict XVI became the first Pope to set foot in the Abbey.[47]

In June 2009, the first major building work at the Abbey for 250 years was proposed. A Corona – a Crown-like architectural feature – was suggested to be built around The Lantern over The Central Crossing, replacing an existing pyramidal structure dating from the 1950s. This was part of a wider £23m development of the Abbey completed in 2013.[48][49]

A statue of William Wordsworth,

Poets' Corner, Westminster Abbey.

Photo: 31 May 2021.

Source: Own work.

Author: JRennocks

(Wikimedia Commons)

On 4 August 2010, The Dean and Chapter announced that, “[a]fter a considerable amount of preliminary and exploratory work”, efforts toward the construction of a Corona would not be continued.[50]

In 2012, architects Panter Hudspith completed refurbishment of the 14th-Century Food-Store, originally used by the Abbey’s Monks, converting it into a restaurant with English Oak Furniture by Covent Garden-based Furniture Makers Luke Hughes and Company. This is now the Cellarium Café and Terrace.[51]

On 29 April 2011, the wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton took place at the Abbey.[52]

Statues in Poets’ Corner, Westminster Abbey.

Photo: 27 September 2006.

Source: Own work.

Author: Herry Lawford London, U.K.

(Wikimedia Commons)

The Late-Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Galleries were created in the Mediæval Triforium of the Abbey. This is a display area for the Abbey’s treasures in the Galleries high up around the Abbey’s Nave. A new Gothic Access Tower, with Lift, was designed by the Abbey architect and Surveyor of the Fabric, Ptolemy Dean. The new Galleries opened in June 2018.[53][54]

On 10 March 2021, a Vaccination Centre opened in Poets’ Corner to administer doses of COVID-19 Vaccines.[55]

The Official Web-Site for Westminster Abbey can be accessed HERE

PART FOUR FOLLOWS.