Beneath the floors

By Alexandra Graff
LONDON--



I usually find visiting churches, chapels and abbeys a rather dull and monotonous experience, but Westminster Abbey took me by surprise. Full of impressive architecture, beautifully-adorned tombs, and deceased royals and famous figures, the Abbey was well worth my time.

Westminster Abbey is still a working church as well as a tourist attraction.

On our second day of travel, more than once I caught myself staring up at the embellished gothic arches and designs of the ceilings, while our tour guide Sarah Speller explained the history of how the Abbey started as a place of worship for Benedictine monks .

Since 1066 the monarchy used Westminster Abbey as the official place of royal coronations. And in fact, all but two of the British kings and queens were crowned in the Abbey using the official coronation chair, which is exhibited inside one of the halls, Sarah said.

The Abbey truly came into global fame when current Queen Elizabeth II was crowned inside its walls not only to an audience of 8,000 people but also for the first time to the world via a TV broadcast in 1953. Since then, the Abbey has also seen the screen when it came to important royal weddings, most recently for Prince William and Catherine Middleton, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.

The Abbey's signature two towers rise above the entrance.

However, I was most surprised to literally stumble upon the resting places of several famous figures in history. The floor of Westminster Abbey is made up of stones, of which many are actually tombs denoting burial places. More surprising yet, the burial places are organized by profession, most notably: the science corner, musician’s row, writer’s corner, and poet’s corner.

So visitors tread upon Charles Darwin’s stone while a beautifully-carved marble tribute to Sir Isaac Newton stares down at passers-by in the science corner. In the writer’s corner, a tribute (but not burial place) to Shakespeare rests on a wall along side tributes to the Bronte sisters and Jane Austen. I noticed with a shock that I was standing on Charles Dickens’ tomb. The only floor tomb visitors can’t step on is one ringed with poppies and dedicated to an unknown soldier who represents those lost in battle, an addition to the Abbey I found touching.

The floor stone tombs, however, were nothing compared to the final resting places of past royals. Positioned in several separate side chapels within the Abbey were towering and ornamented tombs covered in gilded carvings of monarchs such as Queen Elizabeth I, Queen Mary I, and Mary Queen of Scots.

The Abbey includes side chapels and several separate entrances, as seen above. 

I wouldn't peg myself as a history buff, but with so much rich history in one place, I found myself clinging to every detail. And while churches don’t necessarily impress me, Westminster Abbey certainly did.