Buried in Westminster Abbey on 11 November 1920,
The Unknown Warrior symbolises all those who died
for their Country in The First World War, particularly
those who have no known grave.
The body, herewith, is that of an unidentified Serviceman disinterred from France. Present at the burial ceremony were leading politicians, senior military figures and members of The Royal Family, led by King George V.
The artist Frank O. Salisbury attended the burial and
made a sketch of the event. He used the sketch as the basis
for this large painting, which hangs in Committee Room 10
in The Houses of Parliament.
Date: 1920.
Artist: Frank O. Salisbury
(Wikimedia Commons)
unless otherwise stated.
Construction of the present Church began in 1245 by King Henry III[15], who selected the site for his burial.[16]
The first building stage included the entire East End, the Transepts, and the Easternmost Bay of the Nave.
The Lady Chapel, built around 1220 at the East End, was incorporated into the Chevet of the new building, but was later replaced. This work must have been largely completed by 1258 – 1260, when the second stage was begun.
4.png)
Westminster Abbey.
The Ceiling in the Nave.
Photo: 20 September 2010.
Author: renato agostini
(Wikimedia Commons)
The old Romanesque Nave remained attached to the new building for over a Century, until it was pulled down in the Late-14th-Century and rebuilt from 1376, closely following the original (and by now outdated) design.[18]
Construction was largely finished by the architect Henry Yevele in the reign of King Richard II.[19]
The Coronation of Queen Victoria.
Date: 1839.
Artist: John Martin (1789–1854).
Collection: Tate Britain
Source/Photographer: [1]
(Wikimedia Commons)
Henry VII added a Perpendicular Style Chapel Dedicated to The Blessed Virgin Mary in 1503 (known as the Henry VII Chapel, or, “The Lady Chapel”). Much of the Stone came from Caen, in France (Caen Stone), the Isle of Portland (Portland Stone) and the Loire Valley region of France (Tuffeau Limestone).[21] The Chapel was finished circa 1519.[18]
In 1535, during the assessment attendant on The Dissolution of the Monasteries, the Abbey’s annual income was £3,000 (equivalent to £1,950,000 as of 2021).[22][23]
4.png)
Westminster Abbey Pulpit.
Photo: Circa 1865 - 1885.
Source: Pulpit, Westminster Abbey
Author: Cornell University Library
Permission: Cornell University Library @ Flickr Commons
(Wikimedia Commons)
The Abbot, William Benson, became Dean of the Cathedral, while the Prior and five of the Monks were among the twelve Canons.[25]
Westminster Diocese was dissolved in 1550, but the Abbey was recognised (in 1552, retroactively to 1550) as a second Cathedral of the Diocese of London until 1556.[26][27][28]
The Abbey was restored to The Benedictines under the Catholic Mary I of England, but they were again ejected under Elizabeth I in 1559.
In 1560, Elizabeth re-established Westminster as a “Royal Peculiar” – a Church of The Church of England responsible directly to the Sovereign, rather than to a Diocesan Bishop – and made it the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter (that is, a non-Cathedral Church with an attached Chapter of Canons, headed by a Dean).[30]
Westminster Abbey.
Outside is a Procession of Knights of the Bath.
This painting of Westminster Abbey by Canaletto was
created shortly after the completion of The West Towers.
Date: 1749.
Collection: Westminster Abbey.
Source/Photographer: Web Gallery of Art:
(Wikimedia Commons)
The Abbey suffered damage during the turbulent 1640s, when it was attacked by Puritan iconoclasts, but was again protected by its close ties to the State during the Commonwealth period.
Oliver Cromwell was given an elaborate funeral there in 1658, only to be disinterred in January 1661 and posthumously hanged from a gibbet at Tyburn.[32]
The illuminated façade of Westminster Abbey at night.
Photo: 11 August 2014.
Source: Own work.
Author: Diego Delso
(Wikimedia Commons)
A Narthex (a Portico or Entrance Hall) for The Great West Front was designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens in the Mid-20th-Century, but was not built. A temporary Annexe was constructed outside The Great West Door for the Coronation of Elizabeth II in 1953.
The Apse, Westminster Abbey.
Photo: 11 March 2016.
Source: All the Fiddly Bits
Author: Garry Knight London, England.
(Wikimedia Commons)
Images of the Abbey, prior to the construction of the Towers, are scarce, though the Abbey’s official Web-Site states that the building had “Towers which had been left unfinished in the Mediæval period”.[34]
In 1750, the top of one of the Piers on the North Side of the Abbey fell down, by earthquake, with the iron and lead that had fastened it.
PART THREE FOLLOWS.
In 1750, the top of one of the Piers on the North Side of the Abbey fell down, by earthquake, with the iron and lead that had fastened it.
PART THREE FOLLOWS.
As usual, by Zephyrinus, a wonderful historical review of one of the great shrines of Christendom with an immense English and Catholic history. But this reader was struck by the solemn and impressive painting by artist Frank O. Salisbury of the 1920 interment of the Unknown Soldier at the cathedral. Zephyrinus' notes indicate that Salisbury used a sketch of the service, making it both historically accurate (it seems to communicate an unusual certainty of the event) and also resonant of the profound dignity and respect of the British military in attendance---each one no doubt thinking to themselves, "That could be me being laid to rest, unknown and unnamed." A thought we all should ponder, since we owe so much "to those who gave all." Thank you, Zephyrinus-- Comment by Dante Peregrinus.
ReplyDeleteA most profound, accurate, and moving, Comment. Nothing could be added to such an eloquent summation. Thank you, Dante P.
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