ABBEY HISTORY
An architectural masterpiece of the 13th to 16th centuries, Westminster Abbey also presents a unique pageant of British history – the shrine of St Edward the Confessor, the tombs of kings and queens, and countless memorials to the famous and the great. It has been the setting for every Coronation since 1066 and for numerous other royal occasions, including sixteen royal weddings. Today it is still a church dedicated to regular worship and to the celebration of great events in the life of the nation. Neither a cathedral nor a parish church, Westminster Abbey (or the Collegiate Church of St Peter, Westminster to give it its correct title) is a “Royal Peculiar” under the jurisdiction of a Dean and Chapter, subject only to the Sovereign and not to any archbishop or bishop.
Westminster Abbey, a work of architectural genius, a place of daily worship, deploying the resources of high musical expertise, a burial place of kings, statesmen, poets, scientists, warriors and musicians, is the result of a process of development across the centuries, which represents the response of a monastery and later a post-Reformation church to the stimulus and challenge of its environment.
In the 1040s King Edward (later St Edward the Confessor) established his royal palace by the banks of the river Thames on land known as Thorney Island. Close by was a small Benedictine monastery founded under the patronage of King Edgar and St Dunstan around 960 A.D. This monastery Edward chose to re-endow and greatly enlarge, building a large stone church in honour of St Peter the Apostle. This church became known as the “west minster” to distinguish it from St Paul’s Cathedral (the east minster) in the City of London. Unfortunately, when the new church was consecrated on 28 December 1065 the King was too ill to attend and died a few days later. His mortal remains were entombed in front of the High Altar.
The only traces of Edward’s monastery to be seen today are in the round arches and massive supporting columns of the undercroft and the Pyx Chamber in the cloisters. The undercroft now houses the Abbey Museum but was originally part of the domestic quarters of the monks. Among the most significant ceremonies that occurred in the Abbey at this period was the coronation of William the Conqueror on Christmas day 1066, and the “translation” or moving of King Edward’s body to a new tomb a few years after his canonisation in 1161.
Edward’s Abbey survived for two centuries until the middle of the 13th century when King Henry III decided to rebuild it in the new Gothic style of architecture. It was a great age for cathedrals: in France it saw the construction of Amiens, Evreux and Chartres and in England Canterbury, Winchester and Salisbury, to mention a few. Under the decree of the King of England, Westminster Abbey was designed to be not only a great monastery and place of worship, but also a place for the coronation and burial of monarchs. This church was consecrated on 13 October 1269. Unfortunately the king died before the nave could be completed so the older structure stood attached to the Gothic building for many years.
Every monarch since William the Conqueror has been crowned in the Abbey, with the exception of Edward V and Edward VIII who were never crowned. It was natural that Henry III should wish to translate the body of the saintly Edward the Confessor into a more magnificent tomb behind the High Altar. This shrine survives and around it are buried a cluster of medieval kings and their consorts including Henry III, Edward I and Eleanor of Castile, Edward III and Philippa of Hainault, Richard II and Anne of Bohemia and Henry V. The Abbey contains over 600 monuments and wall tablets – the most important collection of monumental sculpture anywhere in the country - and over three thousand people are buried here. Notable among these is the Unknown Warrior, whose grave, close to the west door, has become a place of pilgrimage. Heads of State who are visiting the country invariably come to lay a wreath at this grave.
A remarkable new addition to the Abbey was the glorious Lady chapel built by King Henry VII, first of the Tudor monarchs, which now bears his name. This has a spectacular fan-vaulted roof and the craftsmanship of Italian sculptor Pietro Torrigiano can be seen in Henry’s fine tomb. The chapel was consecrated on 19 February 1516. Since 1725 it has been associated with the Most Honourable Order of the Bath and the banners of the current Knights Grand Cross surround the walls. The Battle of Britain memorial window by Hugh Easton at the east end and a new stained glass window above by Alan Younger give colour to this chapel.
Two centuries later a further addition was made to the Abbey when the western towers (left unfinished from medieval times) were completed, to a design by Nicholas Hawksmoor. Little remains of the original medieval stained glass, once one of the Abbey’s chief glories. The great west window and the rose window in the north transept date from the early 18th century but the remainder of the glass dates from the 19th century onwards.
History did not cease with the dissolution of the medieval monastery on 16 January 1540. The same year Henry VIII erected Westminster into a cathedral church with a bishop (Thomas Thirlby), a dean and twelve prebendaries. The bishopric was surrendered on 29 March 1550 and the diocese was re-united with London, Westminster being made by Act of Parliament a cathedral church in the diocese of London. Mary I restored the Benedictine monastery in 1556 under Abbot John Feckenham. But on the accession of Elizabeth I the religious houses revived by Mary were given by Parliament to the Crown and the Abbot and monks were removed in July 1559. Queen Elizabeth I, buried in the north aisle of Henry VII’s chapel, refounded the Abbey by a charter dated 21 May 1560 as a Collegiate Church, a Royal Peculiar exempt from the jurisdiction of bishops and with the Sovereign as its Visitor. In place of the monastic community a collegiate body of a dean and prebendaries, minor canons and a lay staff was established and charged with the task of continuing the tradition of daily worship (for which a musical foundation of choristers, singing men and organist was provided) and with the education of forty Scholars who formed the nucleus of what is now Westminster School (one of the country’s leading independent schools). In addition the Dean and Chapter were responsible for much of the civil government of Westminster, a role which was only fully relinquished in the early 20th century. Thus the Abbey was reshaped and newly patterned to discharge a distinctive yet worshipful role in a modern age.
Still today, a daily pattern of worship is offered to the Glory of God. Special services, representative of a wide spread of interest and social concern, are held regularly. Annual services include a thanksgiving for victory in the Battle of Britain, a service for Judges at the start of the legal year and an Observance on Commonwealth Day. In 1965-66 the Abbey celebrated the 900th anniversary of the consecration of King Edward’s abbey, taking as its theme ‘One People’. Such a theme seemed to be fitting for a church which, through a long history of involvement with the developing life of the British people, has become known throughout the world. In 2010 His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI became the first Pope to visit the Abbey.
ARCHITECTURE
The present building dates mainly from the reign of King Henry III. In 1245 he pulled down the eastern part of the 11th century Abbey, which had been founded by King Edward the Confessor and dedicated in 1065. Earlier in Henry's reign, on 16 May 1220, he had laid the foundation stone for a new Lady Chapel at the east end of the Confessor's church, but as the Abbey's own financial resources were not sufficient to continue the rebuilding of the whole church at this time no other work was carried out.
It is said that Henry's devotion to St Edward later prompted him to build a more magnificent church in the newest Gothic style, and also to provide a new shrine for the Saint, near to whom Henry himself could be buried. The three master masons supervising the work were Henry of Reyns, John of Gloucester and Robert of Beverley. It is not known if Henry was English or French but the architect was greatly influenced by the new cathedrals at Reims, Amiens and Chartres, borrowing the ideas of an apse with radiating chapels and using the characteristic Gothic features of pointed arches, ribbed vaulting, rose windows and flying buttresses. The design is based on the continental system of geometrical proportion, but its English features include single rather than double aisles and a long nave with wide projecting transepts. The Abbey has the highest Gothic vault in England (nearly 102 feet) and it was made to seem higher by making the aisles narrow. The Englishness is also apparent in the elaborate mouldings of the main arches, the lavish use of polished Purbeck marble for the columns and the overall sculptural decoration. The east-west axis was determined by the existing position of the Lady Chapel.
A spacious area between the high altar and the beginning of the quire was necessary to provide a ‘theatre’ where coronations could take place. The stonework (which came from Caen in France and Reigate in Surrey), the sculptured roof bosses and the other carvings would have been brightly coloured and the wall arcades may have been decorated in vermilion and gold. The walls were adorned with fine paintings, and two, depicting St Thomas and St Christopher, were rediscovered in the 1930s. Some of the original colour on the censing angels in the south transept was discovered at about the same time. Brilliant ruby and sapphire glass, with heraldic shields set in a grisaille (or grey monochrome) pattern, filled the windows. The chapel screens and tombs added to the display of colour. By 1269 the apse, radiating chapels, transepts and choir were complete and the new shrine received the bones of St Edward on 13 October.
When Henry III died in 1272 only one bay of the nave beyond the choir screen had been completed. The old Norman nave remained attached to the far higher Gothic building for over a century until more money became available at the end of the fourteenth century. The western section of the nave was then carried on by Abbot Nicholas Litlyngton using money bequeathed by Cardinal Simon Langham (Litlyngton’s predecessor as abbot) and work slowly progressed for nearly a hundred and fifty years. It was probably Litlyngton who insisted that the general design of Henry III's masons should be followed thus giving the Abbey great architectural unity. Master mason Henry Yevele made only minor alterations in the architectural design but it can be seen on closer inspection that the diaper (or rosette) decoration on the spandrels of the arches was discontinued in the nave, and other details are not as elaborate as the older work. In the bay of the nave just to the west of the quire screen can be seen the junction of the old and new work.
In 1422 Henry V was buried at the eastern end of St Edward’s Chapel. In accordance with his will a lavishly sculptured chantry chapel was built over the tomb, with two turret staircases leading to an altar above. The designer was John Thirske, who was probably also responsible for the carved altar screen in the Confessor's chapel added at this period, showing representations of events in the life of St Edward. Abbot John Islip, died 1532, added his own Jesus chapel off the north ambulatory and finally completed the nave vaulting and glazed the west window, but the top parts of the west towers remained unfinished.
The next great addition to the Abbey was the construction of a magnificent new Lady Chapel by Henry VII between 1503 and 1519 to replace the 13th century chapel. The Perpendicular architecture here is in total contrast to the rest of the Abbey. No accounts for this building have been found but it is thought that the architects were Robert Janyns and William Vertue. It has been called "one of the most perfect buildings ever erected in England" and "the wonder of the world". Henry spent lavish sums on its decoration. The glory of the chapel is its delicately carved fan vaulted roof, with hanging pendants. These are constructed on half-concealed transverse arches. All around the chapel are Tudor emblems such as the rose and portcullis, and nearly one hundred statues of saints still remain in niches around the walls. The original jewel-like stained glass by Bernard Flower has, however, disappeared.
The last phase of building was the completion in 1745 of the West Towers in Portland stone, to a design by Nicholas Hawksmoor, the Abbey's Surveyor.
ROYALS & THE ABBEY
Westminster Abbey has always enjoyed close links with the monarchy not least in its unbroken role as the coronation church since 1066.
Kings and queens have been significant benefactors of the Abbey, beginning with King Edgar (reigned 959–75) who gave the original monastic community at Westminster substantial lands covering most of what is now the West End of London. Almost a hundred years later King Edward (later Edward the Confessor) established his palace close to this monastic community and built for it a large stone church which became his own burial place. In the mid-thirteenth century Henry III rebuilt the Confessor’s church, providing the Gothic building we have today. Henry’s own burial here in 1272 established Westminster as the principal royal burial place for the next 500 years. Richard II, Henry V, Henry VII and Elizabeth I were all influential in shaping the Abbey’s history.
Westminster Abbey or - to use its formal name - the Collegiate Church of St. Peter, Westminster, is a ‘Royal Peculiar’. This means it is a free chapel of the Sovereign, exempt from any ecclesiastical jurisdiction other than that of the Sovereign. Royal Peculiars originated in Anglo-Saxon times and developed as a result of the unique relationship between the Norman and Plantagenet Kings and the English Church. In 1222 the Abbey was declared a Papal Peculiar, exempt from the jurisdiction of both the Bishop of London and the Archbishop of Canterbury. It has been a Royal Peculiar since 1533 when the Ecclesiastical Licences Act, as confirmed by the Act of Supremacy of 1559, transferred to the Sovereign the jurisdiction which had previously been exercised by the Pope. Other Royal Peculiars include St George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle and the Chapels Royal.
To find out more about the Abbey's Royal links use the menu on the left.
FAMOUS PEOPLE & THE ABBEY
The following list of people buried or commemorated in Westminster Abbey provides links to information about them and their monuments. The list is necessarily selective and NOT COMPLETE at present, but further names and information will gradually be added. Contact the Abbey Library if you have a query about a burial or monument not covered by this list - see Contacts
Photography is not permitted within the Abbey Church. Photos can be purchased from the Abbey Library, (not the shop). Library E-mail address on Contacts section of the website.
Most pages about individual monuments include a transcript of the inscription and an English translation if the original is in Latin. The spelling of names and words in English has often changed over the centuries and this is reflected in the inscriptions.
ABBOTS
Edwin 1049-1071?
Geoffrey of Jumiges 1071?-1075?
Vitalis of Bernay 1076?-1085
Gilbert Crispin 1085-1117
Herbert 1121-1136?
Gervase de Blois 1138-1157?
Laurence of Durham 1158?-1173
Walter of Winchester 1175-1190
William Postard 1191-1200
Ralph de Arundel alias Papillon 1200-1214
William de Humez 1214-1222
Richard de Berkying 1222-1246
Richard de Crokesley 1246-1258
Philip de Lewisham 1258
Richard de Ware 1258-1283
Walter de Wenlok 1283-1307
Richard de Kedyngton alias Sudbury 1308-1315
William de Curtlyngton 1315-1333
Thomas de Henley 1333-1344
Simon de Bircheston 1344-1349
Simon de Langham 1349-1362
Nicholas de Litlyngton 1362-1386
William de Colchester 1386-1420
Richard Harweden 1420-1440
Edmund Kyrton 1440-1462
George Norwich 1463-1469
Thomas Millyng 1469-1474
John Esteney 1474-1498
George Fascet 1498-1500
John Islip 1500-1532
William Boston 1533-1540
Abbot of the monastery restored by Mary I : John Feckenham 1556-1559
BISHOP OF WESTMINSTER
Thomas Thirlby 1540-1550
DEANS
William Benson (formerly Abbot Boston) 1540-1549
Richard Cox 1549-1553
Hugh Weston 1553-1556
William Bill 1560-1561
Gabriel Goodman 1561-1601
Lancelot Andrewes 1601-1605
Richard Neile 1605-1610
George Montaigne 1610-1617
Robert Tounson 1617-1620
John Williams 1620-1644
Richard Steward (never installed) 1644-1651
(Commonwealth period)
John Earle 1660-1662
John Dolben 1662-1683
Thomas Sprat 1683-1713
Francis Atterbury 1713-1723
Samuel Bradford 1723-1731
Joseph Wilcocks 1731-1756
Zachary Pearce 1756-1768
John Thomas 1768-1793
Samuel Horsley 1793-1802
William Vincent 1802-1815
John Ireland 1816-1842
Thomas Turton 1842-1845
Samuel Wilberforce 1845
William Buckland 1845-1856
Richard Chenevix Trench 1856-1864
Arthur Penrhyn Stanley 1864-1881
George Granville Bradley 1881-1902
Joseph Armitage Robinson 1902-1911
Herbert Edward Ryle 1911-1925
William Foxley Norris 1925-1937
Paul de Labilliere 1938-1946
Alan Don 1946-1959
Eric Abbott 1959-1974
Edward Carpenter 1974-1985
Michael Mayne 1986-1996
Arthur Wesley Carr 1997-2006
John Hall 2006-
ORDER OF THE BATH
The Most Honourable Order of the Bath was established as a military order by Letters Patent of George I on 18 May 1725, when the Dean of Westminster was made Dean of the Order in perpetuity and King Henry VII's Chapel designated as the Chapel of the Order. However, the Order was a revival of an older custom going back to medieval times when part of the ceremony of knighthood included a ritual bath symbolic of spiritual purification and a vigil the night before receiving the honour. There is an account of this ceremony in the reign of Henry IV in 1399 and it was kept up until the time of Charles II, after which it fell into disuse.
The Order was enlarged in 1815 and three classes of knights were formed: Knights Grand Cross, Knights Commander and Companions. A small number of distinguished civilians were also admitted at this time and in 1847 a civil division of Knights Commander and Companions was added. As a result of the increased numbers after 1812, due in part to the Napoleonic wars, no installations took place in the chapel until 1913 when George V revived the service and the erection of stall-plates, banners and crests was begun again. The banner, crest and mantling of each GCB (Knight Grand Cross) hang above his stall until his death when they are returned to his family, but a copper stall-plate enamelled with his coat of arms remains as a permanent record. Knights may wait many years before a stall becomes vacant (for example Lord Mountbatten had to wait 17 years). Ladies were admitted to the Order in 1971 and Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester was the first Dame Grand Cross. HRH The Prince of Wales is the current Great Master of the Order and he and the Sovereign (whose stall plate is illustrated here) occupy stalls at the west end of the chapel at an installation. Overseas heads of state and other distinguished foreigners may be made Honorary members of the Order. Installation services usually take place every four years.
From the reign of James I a special badge with three crowns was appropriated to the Knights of the Bath and is probably an allusion to the three kingdoms of England, Scotland and Ireland, as is the motto Tria Juncta in Uno (three joined in one). Famous holders of the Order have included Nelson, Wellington, Earl Haig, Lord Kitchener and Viscount Montgomery of Alamein.
Colour prints of most of the stall plates can be purchased from the Abbey Library. For information on individual knights enquiries should be addressed to the Genealogist of the Order at the Central Chancery for the Orders of Knighthood, St James’s Palace, London SW1A 1BH.
ABBEY BELLS
It is probable that the Abbey of Edward the Confessor dedicated in 1065 and which had a central tower and two western towers was furnished with bells. The first recorded information concerning Abbey bells, however, is found in the Close Rolls of King Henry III where an instruction in 1230 to Edward of Westminster required that he make for the Abbey a bigger bell than any of those he had made previously. In the following year Edward was commissioned to make a small bell “that shall be in tune with the great bell”.
The chronicler Matthew Paris in 1255 noted that five bells were in use, and this was depicted in his illuminated manuscript. A bell cast for the Abbey c.1310 by Richard de Wimbis bearing the inscription “Christe Audi Nos” is on display in the Abbey’s museum. By the late fifteenth century a ring of six bells was installed and although recasting occurred the number of bells at the Abbey remained at six until the twentieth century.
In 1919 King George V and Queen Mary were present at London’s Whitechapel Bell Foundry when two Abbey bells were recast and two bells newly cast to form a ring of eight. Restoration of the Abbey’s bell installation had become necessary when ringing for the Armistice in 1918 was almost impossible due to the poor condition of the bell frame and fittings. The eight bells continued in use for 52 years ringing out in 1937 for the coronation of King George VI, in 1953 for the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II and on 8 May 1945 for VE Day (MP3)The weight of the tenor, the largest bell, was 28cwt (1,410kg).
In 1971 a bequest to the Abbey by Dr Eric Perkins, the brother of the Reverend Jocelyn Perkins who was Sacrist at the Abbey from 1900 to 1958, enabled a ring of ten bells to be cast. The Whitechapel Bell Foundry again was instructed. From the ring of eight the two oldest bells, which dated from the sixteenth century and the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, were retained. They are chimed (MP3) daily prior to evening service.
CLOCHARD
In the mid thirteenth century under the aegis of King Henry III rebuilding the Abbey in the Gothic style commenced. At this time a separate bell tower or clochard was erected on the north side of the Abbey and bells rang out from the clochard for 300 years.
NORTH WEST TOWER
During the sixteenth century six bells were installed in the incomplete north-west tower, the height of which was lower than the nave roof. In the early eighteenth century Sir Christopher Wren proposed the completion of the towers and the work was later undertaken by the Surveyor Nicholas Hawksmoor and his successor John James. At last in 1745, five centuries after the building of King Henry III’s Abbey commenced, the colossal task was completed. The two towers were raised to their present height and the bells moved to a higher belfry in the north-west tower.
TEN BELLS
The 1971 ring of ten bells was dedicated at a service in the Abbey attended by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II on 9 November that year. The tenor bell has a diameter of 4 feet 6 inches (137 cm), a weight of 30cwt 1qtr 15lb (1,530 kg) and is tuned to the note of D. Its inscription notes previous Abbey tenor bell castings in 1430, 1599 and 1738. The treble, the smallest bell, has a diameter of 2 feet 3 inches (618 cm) and a weight of 4cwt 3qtr 16lb (246kg). The inscriptions on each bell record its dedication and date of casting.
The tenor bell is tolled (MP3) following the announcement of the death of a member of the Royal family and on the death of the Dean of Westminster.The bells are hung for traditional English style change ringing in which the bells swing full circle, allowing the ringers to vary the sequence in which the bells sound. The sequences are determined by rules that produce bell ringing methods, one of which rung at the Abbey is Yorkshire Surprise Royal (MP3).
RINGERS
The Abbey’s Domesday cartulary records the establishment of the Brethren of the Guild of Westminster in 1255 whose members were charged with the duty of ringing the bells for an annual fee of one hundred shillings. In 1921 Dean Ryle, following what he believed to have been the spirit of the old Brethren, organised the Westminster Abbey Company of Ringers. This is a volunteer group which continues to operate and which comprises principal, supernumerary and honorary members.
RINGING OCCASIONS
The Abbey bells are rung for major church festivals, saints’ days, Royal and Abbey anniversaries, civic events and for special services. Annual ringing dates are given in the schedule. Service ringing takes place at service conclusion except when the Monarch attends when the bells are also rung beforehand. On solemn occasions the bells are rung half-muffled, a leather pad being strapped to one side of the clapper ball. The bells provide a distinctive effect sounding strident and soft alternately. Ringing for All Souls and Remembrance is half-muffled and the method Stedman Caters (MP3)is rung.
PEALS
Significant events and anniversaries whether royal, national or Abbey related are marked by the ringing of a full peal. This comprises a minimum of 5000 different changes (or sequences) and is performed without a break. A peal takes over three hours to complete and demands considerable concentration by the ringers and the conductor all of whom commit the progress of the 5000 changes to memory. Inscribed peal boards noting the event, the ringers and other information are mounted on the ringing chamber walls.
SISTER RINGS
Two other rings of bells have been cast to the same specification as those at the Abbey. In 1936 the Whitechapel Bell Foundry reproduced the sizes and weights of the then eight Abbey bells for Christ Church Cathedral, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada.
In 1977 a set of bells, cast by Whitechapel to the specification of the Abbey's ten bells, formed a bicentennial gift by the English Ditchley Foundation to the Congress of the United States. The bells are installed in the Old Post Office Tower in Washington D.C. and each bell is inscribed with the Great Seals of the United States and of Britannia. The Abbey's coat of arms is cast on the headstock of each bell.
BENEDICTINE MONASTERY
The monks at Westminster Abbey wore the black habit of the Order of St Benedict, who had originally established the Benedictine rules for the monks of his own abbey at Monte Cassino in Italy about 540 AD. According to the Rule they were to take a vow of obedience, lead a simple and self-denying life, be celibate and own no property. The simple celebration of the daily services in praise of God was their first duty, and work (often farm work) and reading took up the rest of their time. At a time when very few people, even kings, could write, monasteries were the main source of education. As they became richer and more monks were ordained priests the tradition of manual work ceased and they were more concerned with administration of their lands and possessions.
The first monks were brought to Westminster in about 960 AD by St Dunstan, then Bishop of London. No trace of the building to which they came has been found as King Edward the Confessor built a new Abbey on the site, which was consecrated on 28 December 1065. It was built on a marshy area called Thorney Island, surrounded by tributaries of the Tyburn river. The numbers of monks at Westminster varied through the centuries from about 30 to 60, although only 24 were left when Henry VIII dissolved the monastery in 1540. But the community also included many lay servants, masons, and almsmen. Only the Pyx Chamber and the Undercroft (now the Museum) in the cloisters remain from Edward’s 11th century Abbey. In 1245 Henry III began rebuilding much of the Church in the new Gothic style of architecture. The monastic buildings from this period, like the magnificent octagonal Chapter House, still survive today, though some are incorporated into later structures. The great dormitory is now divided into the Abbey Library and the Great Hall of Westminster School, and the Prior's residence is now part of Ashburnham House. The garden, where the monks took exercise and grew herbs, can still be visited. Part of the Infirmary now forms the Little Cloister. It was here that the sick were cared for and where the elderly monks lived. They were exempted from the ordinary regulations of the Abbey, and the Infirmary had its own chapel dedicated to St Catherine.
The cloisters were the centre of monastic life where the monks spent most of their time when not at prayer or taking part in the daily services. In the west cloister the novices were taught and for relaxation they played a popular game of marbles called "nine holes". The monks worked in the north cloister, where they were sheltered from cold winds and got most of the sun. At first only the upper sections of the windows were glazed and it was very cold in winter. Later, rushes were strewn on the stone floor and wooden partitions were erected to form individual "carrells" where the monks could read and study. The scriptorium, for those engaged in copying and illuminating manuscripts, was set up elsewhere. In the south cloister was the entrance to the refectory and towels hung in the four (restored) niches which can still be seen by what is now the entrance to the Abbey Song School. The washing place was in the first bay of the west cloister. The monks ate lots of fish (herrings, oysters, sturgeon, whelks, cod etc.) and had beef, mutton, pork and some chicken and duck, with bread, beer, cheese and eggs but very few vegetables. There was a bath house (with hot water) and a shaving house in the precincts but the monks only took about four baths a year. The latrines were at the end of the “dark” cloister (a continuation of the eastern walk). In the east cloister the community met each day in the Chapter House to have a chapter of the Rule of St Benedict read to them and to have any punishments meted out. Next door were the day stairs to the dormitory (now the entrance to the Library). This was a very large room and by the 14th century was divided into cubicles, with curtains to ensure privacy. Only some of the monks actually slept here, as many had private quarters. No fire was allowed and in the early Middle Ages they slept in their day clothes. By the 15th century they had special night coats over their underwear. In this cloister on the Thursday before Easter the Abbot used to wash the feet of thirteen elderly men (although someone else had washed them first to make sure they were clean!), kissed their feet and distributed the Maundy alms in memory of Christ's last supper with his disciples.
The daily round of services usually commenced with Matins at midnight, Lauds at daybreak, and Prime at about 6am. Terce, Sext, and None were said before dinner and Vespers at 6pm. The monks retired to bed at about 8pm in winter and 9pm in summer. The Abbots of Westminster were important and powerful men and were often employed by the king on state business. William of Colchester was so involved in politics that in 1400 he was sent to the Tower of London for a time for his part in a plot to restore Richard II to the throne. John Islip used to entertain Henry VII, serving the king with his favourite marrowbone puddings. Westminster Abbey owned much property in London, such as Hampstead, Paddington and Knightsbridge, and in many parts of England. Windsor was part of Edward the Confessor's endowment but William the Conqueror decided he wanted this for hunting and the Abbey exchanged it for Battersea and Wandsworth and lands in Essex. Henry VIII also swapped property with the Abbey - to the Abbey's disadvantage. In return for the lands of the Priory of Hurley, which he dissolved in l536 and which was already a daughter-house of Westminster, the king received Covent (Convent) Garden (the monks' vegetable garden), Hyde Park and a good deal of property in Westminster.
On 16 January 1540 monastic life at Westminster came to an end when Henry VIII dissolved the monastery and the deed of surrender was signed. Many of the monks retired or went into "civilian" life. However, the Abbot became the first Dean of the new Cathedral Church founded by Henry and the Prior and several monks became clergy in the new church. A bishop was appointed to the new see of Westminster but after ten short years the bishopric was surrendered and the Church became a Cathedral within the diocese of London.
The monks, however, were destined to return just for a short time when Queen Mary I, a Roman Catholic, restored the Benedictine Abbey under Abbot Feckenham in 1556. Monks were brought together from former establishments and at least two monks from the previous Westminster community returned. But Mary died in November 1558 and her Protestant half-sister Elizabeth I became Queen and the monks were removed. Elizabeth established the present Collegiate Church of St Peter, Westminster (the Abbey's correct title) in 1560
JERUSALEM CHAMBER
(this room is not open to the public)
The medieval house of the Abbots of Westminster was known as Cheyneygates. The principal room, the Jerusalem Chamber, was added by Nicholas Litlyngton (Abbot of Westminster 1362-86). The origin of the name is uncertain but it was not uncommon in the Middle Ages to assign names to rooms, as here at the Abbey there are ‘Jerusalem’, ‘Jericho’ and ‘Samaria’. The Jerusalem Chamber is now entered from the smaller room known as the Jericho Parlour. This latter room was built by John Islip who was Abbot from 1500 to 1532. The ‘linenfold’ panelling here is original. In the window of the Parlour are some quarries of glass bearing Abbot Islip’s rebus, or pun on his name, ‘I slip’ with an eye and a slip (or branch).
The roof of the Jerusalem Chamber is original, although it was restored in the 1950s due to death-watch beetle damage. On the timbers are Abbot Litlyngton’s initials under a mitre and a crowned letter R for Richard II in whose reign the room was built. The panelling, copied from that in the Jericho Parlour, was added in the late 19th century by Dean Stanley and is made of cedar wood from Lebanon. The tapestries are of varied provenance. Some are part of a series depicting the History of Abraham, woven in France in the 16th century, and of which other parts may be seen at Hampton Court. These were at one time hung around the High Altar in the Abbey for great occasions, and then were cut to fit the spaces in the Chamber. Above the door and to the right are fragments depicting the return of Sarah from Egypt and at the far end of the room is the Circumcision of Isaac. Opposite this is a 17th century tapestry of Rebekah at the well and to the left of the door is the only complete tapestry, made in England by a weaver using a Flemish mark in the late 17th century. It depicts St Peter healing the lame man at the Beautiful Gate of the Temple. The latter two tapestries were given by Lord John Thynne, Sub-Dean of Westminster, in 1871. Most of the stonework of the fireplace is original but the top section dates from the time of Dean William Foxley Norris (1925-37). The shields are, from left to right, Abbot Litlyngton, Edward the Confessor, the medieval Abbey of Westminster, King Henry IV or V and Dean Norris. In front of this fireplace took place what is perhaps the best known event in the room’s history: the death of King Henry IV. In 1413 the King was planning to go to the Holy Land, and when praying at St Edward’s Shrine in the Abbey he was taken ill, apparently with a stroke. He was brought to the Abbot’s house and laid by the fire where he recovered consciousness. King Henry asked where he was and was told ‘Jerusalem’. The chronicle relates that the King realized he was going to die because it had been prophesied that he would die in Jerusalem. In Henry IV, Part II, Shakespeare tells this story of the King’s death and also has Prince Henry trying on the crown while his father lay dying. The two plaster busts at the south end of the room represent Henry IV and Henry V. The former is copied from the effigy on the Henry IV’s tomb in Canterbury Cathedral.
After the Benedictine monastery was dissolved in 1540 the Abbot’s House, including the Jerusalem Chamber, was granted to the Bishop of Westminster (1540-50). Later on this house became the Deanery and it was here in 1624 that John Williams, Dean of Westminster and Lord Keeper of the Great Seal, entertained the French Ambassador who had come to arrange the marriage of the future King Charles I with Henrietta Maria. Dean Williams commemorated this event by adding the present wooden mantle over the fireplace. A marquetry longcase clock, signed by Robert Clements and dating from about 1686, stands nearby and was presented in 1977. The crystal chandeliers were given in 1956 by Guy Wellby.
In the Jerusalem Chamber many historic meetings have been held: the committees engaged on writing the Authorized Version of the Bible in 1611, the Revised Version in 1870, the New English Bible in 1961 and the Revised English Bible in 1989. In the winter of 1643 the Westminster Assembly of Divines met in the Chamber, and the Upper House of Convocation has often gathered here. The bodies of many famous people, for example, Joseph Addison, Sir Isaac Newton and William Congreve, have lain here before being buried in the Abbey. The Chamber, which is one of the private rooms of the Deanery, is now used for meetings of the Dean and Chapter, and for private gatherings and receptions as arranged or permitted by the Dean.
WAR DAMAGE
WAR AND THE ABBEY 1939-1945.
On the outbreak of the second world war in 1939 many of the Abbey’s treasures were evacuated for safety to country houses, such as Mentmore. These included the 13th century Retable (altarpiece), tapestries, gilt bronze and oak tomb effigies, manuscripts, misericords, and statues and gates from the Lady Chapel. The bronze grille from Henry VII’s tomb was also removed. The small numbers stamped on the grille to enable it to be rebuilt afterwards can still be seen. Some of the stained glass windows were boarded over but quite a lot of glass was blown out by blast, especially in 1940.
About 60,000 sandbags were used to protect immoveable royal and medieval tombs. The Coronation Chair was sent for safety to Gloucester Cathedral and the Coronation Stone was buried secretly within the Abbey. The collection of wax funeral effigies was stored in Piccadilly tube station. The Pyx Chamber was used as the Abbey ARP [Air Raid Precautions] headquarters, College Hall was used by the firewatchers and the Museum was made ready as a dressing station and dispensary. An air raid shelter was available for the Abbey clergy in College Garden. The choirboys were evacuated but later on in the war a choir was formed with local boys and men singing on weekdays, Sundays and at special services.
The worst air raid at the Abbey was on the night of 10/11 May 1941. Clusters of incendiaries (fire bombs rather than high explosives) fell on the roof of the Abbey and in the precincts. Most were quickly put out by the firewatchers and volunteers but one on the lantern roof, in the centre part of the Abbey, burned through the lead and lodged in a beam and could not easily be reached. By this time water supplies were very low. Flames leapt 40 feet into the sky. Luckily the burning timbers and molten lead fell into the mostly open area below (where monarchs are enthroned at a coronation) and the fire was more easily extinguished. The medieval Cosmati pavement and tombs in this area had been boarded over earlier in the war so were undamaged. Lead splattered on the pulpit and choir stalls.
On this night the Deanery and Cheyneygates was gutted by fire but the Jerusalem Chamber, Jericho Parlour and College Hall escaped. Westminster School Hall and the School Dormitory, and numbers 3, 6 and 7 Little Cloister [clergy houses] were also destroyed. Other houses and the Library roof sustained damage. Services continued throughout the war with the nave altar being used after the May raid.
On VE (Victory in Europe) Day, 8th May 1945, short services of thanksgiving were held every hour in the Abbey from 9am to 10pm. An estimated 25,000 people attended during the day, with the Lord Chancellor and House of Lords attending at 3pm (the House of Commons went to St Margaret’s Westminster). A service was also held on the following Sunday, 13th May, when the standards of Canada, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa were laid on the High Altar to symbolise the loyalty of the whole Empire during the war. Services to celebrate VJ (Victory over Japan) Day were held on 15th and 16th August 1945 with great crowds attending.
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