Today Carly and I went into Westminster Abbey--Emily and Steph saw the Abbey already and went off to Green Park. First we waited in the line for about a half hour. Today was Boxing Day: a day off for everyone to pack-up Chirstmas decorations. And is just as big as Christmas day. Hince a ton of people in the lines. : )
Some Facts about Westminster, there are about 3,000 graves in the Abbey and 500 memorials. We saw the graves of scientists, many a monarch, and some very important poets. I don't think I could explained the Abbey's greatness so I brought the history of the Abbey to you.
http://www.westminster-abbey.org/
"Westminster Abbey’s long history can be traced back to the community of Benedictine monks established here c. 960 by Dunstan, bishop of London. Almost a century later King Edward established a palace close to this community and built for it a new church, dedicated to St Peter. It was consecrated on 28 December 1065 and when King Edward died a few days later he was buried in front of its high altar. When William the Conqueror arrived in London after the Battle of Hastings he chose to be crowned in the Abbey (on 25 December 1066) and it has been the coronation church ever since.
The monastery flourished. Royal patronage, extensive lands and the presence of the shrine of St Edward the Confessor (King Edward had been canonised in 1161) made it a wealthy and influential religious house. In 1245 King Henry III resolved to build a new abbey church, modelled on French Gothic cathedrals such as Reims and Amiens. By October 1269 the choir, transepts and eastern section were complete, and St Edward’s body was translated to a magnificent new shrine, where it remains to this day. Henry III’s own tomb was subsequently placed near by and the Abbey became the principal place of royal burial until the eighteenth century."
Carly and I went on a paid tour of the Abbey that took a good hour and a half. We got to go behind the roped off areas and saw the important graves that un-paying tourists didn't get to see. Example: Sir Issac Newton, Charles Darwin, and the very important Edward the Confessor (mentioned above for his importance). I lit a couple of candles for you Doug too.
All in all a very productive day.
Missing you all!
3 comments:
What a wonderful time you are having...glad you got to go on the tour, sounds very interesting. Did you get to take pictures? Reme is over at Nathan and Lina's tonight, she spent the afternoon helping Lina out by watching Ranyah while Lina got some errands ran and packed up more boxes. We are going to help them out this weekend with moving, probably on Saturday. We got to see there cute little house! We are sure missing you though. Love you, Mom
Thanks for the history lesson Whitney. It often is smart to pay for a tour, usually not so crowded, and you learn more. Smart girl!
Wow, that is amazing. You are making me so glad I am reading Ivanhoe, I can just imagine it. I MUST visit London, hopefully you will come with me so you can show me the coolest places!! I can't believe you saw Isaac Newton's grave! Love ya
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