Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Shrine of Edward the Confessor
The holiest part of the church is the raised area behind the altar (where the wooden stair-
case leads—sorry, no tourist access except with verger tour). Step back and peek over the
dark coffin of Edward I to see the tippy-top of the green-and-gold wedding-cake tomb of
King Edward the Confessor—the man who built Westminster Abbey.
God had told pious Edward to visit St. Peter's Basilica in Rome. But with the Nor-
mans thinking conquest, it was too dangerous for him to leave England. Instead, he built
this grand church and dedicated it to St. Peter. It was finished just in time to bury Edward
and to crown his foreign successor, William the Conqueror, in 1066. After Edward's death,
people prayed at his tomb, and, after getting good results, Pope Alexander III canonized
him. This elevated, central tomb—which lost some of its luster when Henry VIII melted
down the gold coffin-case—is surrounded by the tombs of eight kings and queens.
• Continue on. At the top of the stone staircase, veer left into the private burial chapel of
Queen Elizabeth I.
Tomb of Queens Elizabeth I and Mary I
Although only one effigy is on the tomb (Elizabeth's), there are actually two queens buried
beneath it, both daughters of Henry VIII (by different mothers). Bloody Mary—meek, pi-
ous, sickly, and Catholic—enforced Catholicism during her short reign (1553-1558) by
burning “heretics” at the stake.
