These Gothic Fan Vaults are Even Higher than My Expectations Were

Westminster Abbey

This was the visit I had been most looking forward to on the trip. While I am naturally a fan of the neo-classical architecture that we saw at St. Paul’s Cathedral, I can’t pretend that I am not partial to the gothic aesthetics that are on full display at Westminster. While I couldn’t have been happier with the architectural splendor of the Abbey, I was surprised to find that the most interesting part of the visit was actually the who’s-who of historical figures entombed or memorialized there.

Among the most interesting entombed (non-royals) were Isaac Newton, Charles Darwin, and Stephen Hawking. I thought it was particularly interesting that these men had found their way to this Abbey in death, given that their life achievements were secular, and indeed have been contrary to creationism and Christian sentiments in many cases. For me these stones were proof that Westminster is as much a building for recognizing worldly contributions and political posturing as it is a religious site.

In Poet’s Corner, I recognized so many names that I was a bit overwhelmed. Chaucer, Shakespeare, D.H. Lawrence, Tennyson, and Kipling were all names that I saw around me or under my feet. Three more names were of particular interest to me: Jane Austen, Charles Dickens, and Lewis Carroll. Of the three, only Dickens is actually laid to rest in the Abbey, having undergone interment in 1870. Austen, known of course for her literary works such as Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice, and Emma, was buried at Winchester Cathedral in 1817, but is immortalized in Westminster with a plaque near Shakespeare. Lewis Carroll, being the famed author of Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass, is also buried elsewhere, at the Mount Cemetery in Guildford. He was the last of the three to die, having passed in 1898.

An interesting question that I was left with after leaving was whether or not heroes of our age will continue to be immortalized there. Could we see the likes of Sir Elton John or Mick Jagger there someday near Handel? What about J.K. Rowling next to Samuel Johnson? It’s an interesting way to mark the passage of time, yet I’m sure its on some people’s minds already.

[now playing: Skeletons of Society – Slayer]