Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
A tablet in the floor near the Unknown Soldier marks the spot where
George
Peabody
, the nineteenth-century philanthropist whose housing estates in London still
provide homes for those in need,
was buried for a month before being exhumed and
removed to Massachusetts; he remains the only American to have been buried in the
abbey. On the pillar by St George's Chapel, right by the west door, is a doleful
fourteenth-century portrait of
Richard II
, painted at his coronation at the age of 10, and
the oldest known image of an English monarch painted from life. Above the west door,
William Pitt the Younger
, prime minister at just 23, teaches Anarchy a thing or two,
while History takes notes.
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The choir screen and the side aisles
The dried and salted body of the explorer and missionary
David Livingstone
is buried in
the centre of the nave - except for his internal organs, which, following the tradition of
the African people in whose village he died, were buried in a box under a tree. To the
left of the gilded neo-Gothic choir screen is a statue of
Isaac Newton
, who, although a
Unitarian by faith, would no doubt have been happy enough to be buried in such a
prominent position. Other scientists' graves cluster nearby, including non-believer
Charles Darwin
, who, despite being at loggerheads with the Church for most of his life
over
On the Origin of Species
, was given a religious burial in the abbey.
In the far corner of the south aisle, the eighteenth-century marble memorial to
General Hargrave
by Roubiliac, has the deceased rising from the grave in response to
the Last Trumpet; at the time there was a public outcry that such an undistinguished
man - he was Governor of Gibraltar - should receive such a vast memorial. Another
controversial grave is that of poet and playwright
Ben Jonson
, who, despite being a
double murderer, was granted permission to be buried here, upright so as not to exceed
the eighteen square inches he'd been allowed; his epitaph reads simply, “O Rare Ben
Jonson”. The so-called
Musicians' Aisle
lies to the east, beyond a barrier, so you'll need
to ask a verger for access. In fact, just two musicians of great note are buried here:
Ralph Vaughan Williams and Henry Purcell, who served as the abbey's organist. Of the
statues lining the aisle, only the tireless anti-slavery campaigner
William Wilberforce
,
slouching in his chair, is actually buried in the abbey.
Parliament Square
Parliament Square
was laid out in the mid-nineteenth century to give the new Houses
of Parliament and the adjacent Westminster Abbey a grander setting, though nowadays
it functions primarily as a tra
c roundabout and as a favoured protest spot. Statues of
notables - Abraham Lincoln, Benjamin Disraeli and Nelson Mandela, to name but a
few - are scattered amid the swirling cars and buses, with Winston Churchill stooping
determinedly in the northeast corner of the central green. At the beginning of
Westminster Bridge
, you can also spot
Boudicca
, depicted keeping her horses and
daughters under control without the use of reins - the imperialist boast “regions Caesar
never knew, thy posterity shall sway” adorns the plinth.
St Margaret's Church
St Margaret St • Mon-Fri 9.30am-3.30pm, Sat 9.30am-1.30pm, Sun noon-4.45pm • Free •
!
Westminster
Sitting in the shadow of Westminster Abbey,
St Margaret's Church
has been the
uno
cial parliamentary church since 1614, when Puritan MPs decided to shun the
elaborate liturgy of the neighbouring abbey. St Margaret's has also long been a
fashionable church to get married in - Pepys and Milton were followed in the
twentieth century by Churchill and Mountbatten - and it gets a steady stream of
visitors simply by dint of being so close to the abbey (and because it's free, unlike the
abbey). The present building dates back to 1523, and features some colourful Flemish
stained glass above the altar, commemorating the marriage of Henry VIII and
