Sunday, 13 August 2023

Westminster Abbey (Part Five).




Westminster Abbey and The Elizabeth Tower,
which houses the Great Bell called “Big Ben”.
Photo: 17 June 2013.
Source: _DSC5955
Author: dconvertini
(Wikimedia Commons)


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

Henry III rebuilt the Abbey in honour of a Royal Saint, Edward the Confessor, whose relics were placed in a Shrine in the Sanctuary.

Henry III was interred nearby, as were many of the Plantagenet Kings of England, their wives and other relatives. Until the death of George II in 1760, most Kings and Queens were buried in the Abbey, some notable exceptions being Henry VI, Edward IV, Henry VIII and Charles I, who are buried in Saint George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle.

Other exceptions include Edward II, buried at Gloucester Cathedral, King John, buried at Worcester Cathedral, Henry IV buried at Canterbury Cathedral, and Richard III, now buried at Leicester Cathedral, and the “de facto” Queen, Lady Jane Grey, buried in the Chapel of Saint Peter ad Vincula, in The Tower of London.


English: Westminster Abbey.
Español: Abadía de Westminster, Londres, Inglaterra.
Photo: 7 August 2014.
Source: Own work.
Author: Diego Delso
(Wikimedia Commons)


More recently, Monarchs have been buried either in Saint George’s Chapel, Windsor, or at Frogmore, to the East of Windsor Castle.[65]

From The Middle Ages, aristocrats were buried inside Chapels, while Monks and other people associated with the Abbey were buried in The Cloisters and other areas.

One of these was Geoffrey Chaucer, who was buried here as he had apartments in the Abbey, where he was employed as Master of The King’s Works.


Tympanum. The Great West Door.
Westminster Abbey.
Photo: 19 June 2006.
Source: From geograph.org.uk
Author: R Sones
(Wikimedia Commons)


Other Poets, Writers, and Musicians, were buried or memorialised around Chaucer, in what became known as Poets’ Corner. Abbey Musicians, such as Henry Purcell, were also buried in their place of work.[66]

Subsequently, it became one of Britain’s most significant honours to be buried or commemorated in the Abbey.[67]

The practice of burying National Figures in the Abbey began under Oliver Cromwell with the burial of Admiral Robert Blake in 1657[68] (although he was subsequently reburied outside).


Flying Buttresses, Westminster Abbey.
Photo: 15 August 2010.
Author: cogdogblog
(Wikimedia Commons)


The practice spread to include Generals, Admirals, Politicians, Doctors, and Scientists, such as Isaac Newton, buried on
4 April 1727, Charles Darwin, buried on 26 April 1882, and Stephen Hawking, ashes interred on 15 June 2018.

Another was William Wilberforce, who led the movement to abolish slavery in The United Kingdom and the Plantations, buried on 3 August 1833. Wilberforce was buried in the North Transept, close to his friend, the former Prime Minister, William Pitt.[69]

During the Early-20th-Century, it became increasingly common to bury cremated remains, rather than coffins, in the Abbey.


Henry VII’s Chapel, Westminster Abbey.
Artist: Canaletto (1697–1768).
Collection: Private collection
Date: Early-1750s.
This File: 13 April 2009.
User: Rfdarsie
(Wikimedia Commons)


In 1905, the Actor, Sir Henry Irving, was cremated and his ashes buried in Westminster Abbey, thereby becoming the first person ever to be cremated prior to interment at the Abbey.[70]

The majority of interments at the Abbey are of cremated remains, but some burials still take place – Frances Challen, wife of Sebastian Charles, Canon of Westminster, was buried alongside her husband in the South Choir Aisle in 2014.[71]

Members of The Percy Family have a Family Vault, The Northumberland Vault, in Saint Nicholas’s Chapel, within the Abbey.[72]


Ceiling of Henry VII Chapel, Westminster Abbey.
The Fan- and Pendant-Vaulted Ceiling is covered with Stone Tracery. Flags for Members of The Order of The Bath
can be seen at the sides.
Photo: 29 May 2021.
Source: Own work.
Author: JRennocks
(Wikimedia Commons)


In the floor, just inside The Great West Door, in the centre of the Nave, is the tomb of The Unknown Warrior, an unidentified British Soldier killed on a European battlefield during The First World War. He was buried in the Abbey on 11 November 1920. This grave is the only one in the Abbey on which it is forbidden to walk.[73]

At The East End of The Lady Chapel is a Memorial Chapel to the Airmen of The Royal Air Force, who were killed in The Second World War. It incorporates a Memorial Window to The Battle of Britain, which replaces an earlier Tudor, Stained-Glass Window, destroyed in the War.[74]

On 6 September 1997, the formal, though not “State”, Funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales, was held. It was a Royal Ceremonial Funeral, including Royal Pageantry and Anglican Funeral Liturgy.


Cloisters, Westminster Abbey.
Photo: 3 October 2013.
Source: Own work.
(Wikimedia Commons)


A second Public Service was held at the demand of the people. The burial occurred privately, later the same day, on the grounds of her Family Estate, Althorp, on a Private Island.[75]

In 1998, ten vacant Statue Niches on the façade above The Great West Door were filled with representative 20th-Century Christian Martyrs of various denominations.

Those commemorated are Maximilian Kolbe, Manche Masemola, Janani Luwum, Grand Duchess Elizabeth of Russia, Martin Luther King Jr., Óscar Romero, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Esther John, Lucian Tapiedi, and Wang Zhiming.[76][77]


English: Wedding of HRH Princess Elizabeth and
HRH The Duke of Edinburgh.
Princess Elizabeth became the tenth Member of The Royal Family to be married in Westminster Abbey.
Nederlands: Collectie / Archief : Fotocollectie Anefo.
Photo: 20 November 1947.
Author: Anefo.
(Wikimedia Commons)


On 9 April 2002, the Ceremonial Funeral of Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother was held in the Abbey. She was interred in The King George VI Memorial Chapel, at Saint George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle, next to her husband, King George VI, who had died fifty years previously.

At the same time, the ashes of The Queen Mother’s daughter, Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon, who died on
9 February 2002, were also interred in a Private Family Service.[78]

The Web-Site of Westminster Abbey can be accessed HERE.

PART SIX FOLLOWS.
at

No comments:

Post a Comment