Abbey Road (s)

Exterior shot Randy took

Bright and early we arose and headed to Westminster Abbey which is my second visit but every bit as astonishing as Randy found it to be. There were no lines! We ducked inside and just in time to pick up a personal tour by a guide with a great love of history and just the right touch of reverence. It was a fantastic tour. 

Westminster Station in the Tube

Westminster Abbey is immense. The ceiling is over 400 ft high with many chambers and chapels and hallways. It is easy to miss important relics and religious paintings along the way, even with a map.

Westminster sprang from a modest beginning of being first consecrated by the Benedictines in 1065. The first big event was in 1066 when William the Conquerer was crowned Holy Roman Emperor. Each transept and tower is more grand than the last; and it is immediately apparent The Abbey reflects the boundless growth and glory of England itself.

The chapel of Edward
the Confessor

No cameras are allowed inside but there were some on the net to share. The modern look of The Abbey is due to remodeling efforts on and off between the 13th - 18th centuries and has a strong French influence. This is the resting place to some of the world's most influential contributors including ruling monarchs. We were moved by the poignant tributes to Martin Luther King, Jr. and FDR near Winston Churchill's resting place.

Coronation Chair

The guide led behind velvet ropes to sit in the Quire just steps from Queen Elizabeth II's royal seat when she attends mass three times a year. We were shown the exact spot she was crowned Queen in 1953 and how The Abbey was closed for a full year to build massive bleachers for thousands of spectators.

We spent time in the closed-to-the-public Chapel of St. Edward the Confessor. The Coronation Chair was off site and undergoing a restoration to remove graffiti left by unattended English school boys in the 1970s.

Henry VII's chapel is just past the marble tomb of Elizabeth I and her half sister Bloody Mary I, who remain symbolically at odds even in death, and the remains of Edward V and Richard, the young princes killed by their uncle, Richard III, to ascend to the throne.

Tomb of Sir Issac Newton

Poet's Corner overflows with honorary tributes to England's best, beginning with Chaucer in 1400 and shared by Blake, Milton, Austen, Coleridge, Jonson, Wordworth, Keats and so many others, including a tribute to Shakespeare and one to American author Charles Dickens. It is easily my most favorite spot. Elsewhere are tributes to scientists James Watt and Sir Isaac Newton.

We covered as much of The Abbey as possible, and learned about some of the beautiful sculptures and frescoes, and saw Dean's Yard, the chapter house and Abbey Museum. We reverently stood next to the Tomb of the Unknown Warrior before reluctantly heading back to the Tube and into the next leg of our day, a Beatles tour of London.

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