Churches in London

Westminster Abbey

Westminster Abbey is one of the most beautiful Gothic churches in Britain, if not in the entire Europe. The Abbey is surely one of the most recognizable sights in London. Although it is a tourist highlight, Westminster Abbey is a live and functioning church. It is a traditional coronation place of British monarchs as well as a burial place of many important people, and its choir is known worldwide. Westminster Abbey, or more formally the Collegiate Church of St Peter at Westminster, is located in Westminster, just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. Between 1546 and 1556, the Abbey was referred to as a cathedral, and is a Royal Peculiar. The Dean and Chapter of Westminster governs the Abbey, as established by Royal Charter of Queen Elizabeth I in 1560, which created the abbey as the Collegiate Church of St Peter Westminster and a Royal Peculiar under the personal jurisdiction of the Sovereign. The Dean and four residentiary Canons, assisted by the Receiver General and Chapter Clerk, are the members of the Chapter. One of the Canons is also Rector of St Margaret's Church Westminster Abbey and the Chaplain to the Speaker of the House of Commons. There are also two full time minor canons, and for those who assist them, the office of Priest Vicar was crated in the 1970s. The College is constituted by the Clergy, Receiver General, Chapter Clerk, various Lay Officers, the Organist and Master of the Choristers, the Registrar, the Auditor, the Legal Secretary, the Surveyor of the Fabric, the Head Master of the Choir School, the Keeper of the Muniments and the Clerk of the Works, including twelve Lay Vicars, ten of the choristers as well as the High Steward and High Bailiff. Westminster Abbey's history is more than a thousand years old. Benedictine monks first occupied the site of the Abbey in the mid-10th century and established the daily worshipping tradition that still continues. Westminster Abbey has been the coronation church since 1066, and seventeen monarchs are buried here. Henry III rebuilt the church as we know it today in 1245. The medieval shrine of an Anglo-Saxon saint in the centre of the Abbey has managed to survive until the present day. Both monarchs and some of the most important people in the history of Britain are buried in the Abbey. Its tombs and memorials make up the key collection of monumental sculpture in the UK. The Library and the Muniment Room contain collections of books and manuscripts that provide an insight into Abbey's history.

Architecture

Most of the present Abbey building dates from the reign of King Henry III. On 16 May 1220, the king laid the foundation stone for a new Lady Chapel at the east end of the church. However, there weren't enough financial resources to continue the construction works. The eastern part of the 11th century Abbey, founded by King Edward the Confessor and dedicated in 1056, was finally pulled down in 1245. It is believed that king's great devotion to St Edward urged him to build a magnificient church in the Gothic style (the newest style of the period), worthy of the Saint. This new shrine for the Saint was also to be the burial place for the king. Henry of Reyns, John of Gloucester and Robert of Beverley were the three master masons who supervised the construction work on the new church. The architect was greatly influenced by Gothic cathedrals in France, so he borrowed the ideas of an apse with radiating chapels and used the typical Gothic building features such as pointed arches, ribbed vaulting, rose windows and flying buttresses. Although the design of the Abbey is based upon the churches on the continent, it includes English characteristics such as single aisles and a long nave with wide projecting transepts. The Westminster Abbey has the highest Gothic vault in England, measuring nearly 102 feet. Its English features are also apparent in the elaborate mouldings of the main arches, the generous use of polished Purbeck marble and the sculptural decoration. The large area between the high altar and the beginning of the quire was necessary to provide the space for coronations. The stonework, the sculptured roof bosses and carvings were brightly coloured, while the wall arcades were probably decorated in vermillion and gold. The walls of the Abbey were decorated with paintings, two of which, depicting St Thomas and St Christopher, were rediscovered in the 1930s, together with some of the original colour in the south transept's censing angels. The windows were filled with brilliant ruby and sapphire glass, with heraldic shileds set in a grissaille pattern.

The apse, radiating chapels, transepts and the choir were completed by 1269, and the Abbey was ready to receive the bones of St Edward on 13 October. Only one bay of the nave beyond the choir had been completed when Henry III died in 1272. More than a century passed until more money became available and the works on the old Norman nave could be carried on. At the end of the 14th century, Abbot Nicholas Litlyngton - using money he inherited from Cardinal Simon Langham - continued the works that slowly progressed for another century and a half. Although Litlyngton insisted that Henry III's design should be followed, master mason Henry Yevele made minor changes in the design that can only be seen by close inspection of the rosette decoration on the spandrels of the arches. The new details are not as elaborate as the old ones, and the junction of the new and old work can be seen in the bay of the nave just to the west of the quire screen.

Henry V was buried at the eastern end of St Edward's Chapel in 1422. A lavishly sculptured chantry chapel, designed by John Triske, was built over the tomb, with two staircases leading to an altar above. Abbot John Islip added Jesus chapel off the north ambulatory and completed the nave. However, the top parts of the west towers remained unfinished. Between 1503 and 1519, the construction of Lady Chapel by Henry VII was the next addition to the Abbey. It is believed that the Chapel's architects were Robert Jayns and William Vertue, and although its Perpendicular design is in contrast to the rest of the Abbey, the Chapel has been described as "one of the most perfect buildings ever erected in England" and "the wonder of the world". The beauty of the chapel hides in its delicately carved fan vaulted roof, with hanging pendants, and all around the chapel are Tudor emblems such as the rose and portcullis, with around one hundred statues of saints in niches around the walls. The completion of the West Towers, designed by Nicholas Hawksmoor in Portland stone in 1745, was the last phase of building.

Art

Westminster Abbey's collection of monumental brasses dates from the late 13th century onwards. A brass actually consists of engraved metal plates, shaped and cut to fit into a matrix prepared on a tomb. The earliest figure brass in England is that to Sir John D’Abernon, at Stoke D’Abernon in Surrey. Today, brasses are important for the history of costume and armour. However, many brasses were destroyed or melted down at the time of the dissolution of the monasteries in the 1530s and during the English Civil War. Westminster Abbey's most important wall paintings date from the late 13th century. For example, these are the figure of St Faith in her chapel and the figures of Christ with St Thomas and St Christopher in the south transept. The most extensive paintings are the series of 14th century paintings of the Apocalypse and the Last Judgement in the Chapter House.

Cosmati Pavement

The great pavement located in front of the High Altar of Westminster Abbey is a truly remarkable object. The complexitiy of the design and workmanship is unique. The pavement was laid down in 1268 by the order of King Henry III. The workmen, led by Odoricus, came form Rome. The pavement is a type of inlaid stone decoration, known as Cosmati work. It was named after a family of craftsmen who specialized in such technique called opus sectile, meaning 'cut work'. This type of decoration is different than the Roman or medieval mosaics, and is abstract in design. A big contrast can be seen compared to the other great 13th century pavement at the Abbey, that in the Chapter House which is a tiled floor in the English tradition. The great pavement is 24 feet 10 inches (7 metres 58 centimetres) square, the dimensions of which are calculated in Roman feet, and it consists of geometrical patterns made from pieces of stone of varios sizes and colours cut into different shapes such as triangles, squares, circles, etc. The central roundel is made of onyx, while the pavement includes purple porphyry, green serpentine and yellow limestone. The design fetures a border with a rectangle in the middle of each side and five roundels between each rectangle. There is another square within the border, set transversely with its corners pointing north, south, east and west. There are four triangular spaces with large roundels located between the inner border and the transverse square. There is a quincux pattern within the transverse square, with a large roundel in the centre flanked by four roundels. No two roundels are the same; of the four roundels one is circular, one hexagonal, one heptagonal and one octagonal. The three damaged inscriptions refer to the end of the world that is calculated to last for 19,683 years.

Coronations

There have been 38 coronations held at the Westminster Abbey. The first documented coronation was that of William the Conqueror in 1066, while the most recent one was the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II on 2 June 1953. Before William I's coronation in 1066, there was no fixed location for the ceremony, so Bath, Canterbury, Kingston-Upon-Thames and Winchester were all places of crowning. William I, having defeated Harold at the Battle of Hastings in October 1066 as the Duke of Normandy, marched to London and chose the Abbey for his coronation place on Christmas Day the same year. Its function as a coronation church influenced the rebuilding of the Abbey in the 13th century. The need for a larger space, a "theatre", where people could witness the ceremony of coronation, had to be satisfied and adjusted to worshipping requirements. According to the plan of the Abbey that copies the Reims Cathedral, the quire is placed to the west of the crossing and transepts, thus creating a large area between the quire and the sanctuary suitable for the ceremony of coronation. Edward I was the first king to be crowned in the Gothic Abbey in 1274. Around 1298, Edward I ordered the construction of the Coronation Chair, said to have been used at every coronation since then.

From at least the 13th century, every monarch made a formal travel from the Tower of London to the Palace of Westminster on the eve of the coronation. On the day of the coronation, the ceremonies began in Westminster Hall from where a procession progressed to the Abbey. Today, however, these ceremonies don't take place anymore. James II declined the procession, and the ceremonies at Westminster Hall were given up after George IV's coronation in 1821. Although the coronation service always follows the same pattern, it has proved itself as strangely adaptable. At the coronation service of Elizabeth I in 1558, the Latin order of service was replaced with a mixture of Latin and English, and in 1603, at the coronation of James I (James VI of Scotland), the liturgy was entirely in English. The service was again adapted in 1689 for William III and Mary II, so that they could be crowned as joint monarchs. A second Coronation Chair was also made, which is now in the Abbey's museum. Religious aspects of many of the 18th and 19th century coronation ceremonies were overshadowed by public spectacles. George IV spent loads of money for his coronation, while William IV, unwilling to have a coronation at all, spent so little money that his coronation became known as "the penny coronation". Queen Victoria's coronation in 1838, on the other hand, restored the significance of the ceremony as such. During the 20th century, coronation ceremonies became a combination of religious service and lavish spectacle with many international dignitaries coming to witness the coronation, thus affirming Britain's historical status as an imperial power. The televized coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953 enabled broad masses to witness the ceremony.

Poets' Corner

Poets' Corner is one of the most famous parts of Westminster Abbey. It is located in the South Transept, lit by a large rose window. Beneath the window are two of the Abbey's finest medieval carvings, depicting censing angels. There are also two late 13th century wall paintings, depicting Christ showing his wounds to Doubting Thomas and St. Christopher. The south wall used to support the dorter staircase. Today, however, there is no sign of the staircase, but in St Faith's Chapel, there is a passage leading to the staircase. Poets' Corner was not originally intended as the burial place of writers, playwrights and poets. Geoffrey Chaucer was the first writer to be buried here; not because he had written the Canterbury Tales, but because he had been Clerk of Works to the Palace of Westminster. Over the next century and a half, English literature flourished, and a more magnificent tomb was erected to Chaucer. With Edmund Spenser being buried nearby in 1599, the tradition of burying English literary greats close to each other began. Burial or commemoration in the Abbey did not always happen after death of a certain person. Lord Byron, who died in 1824, got a memorial in 1969, and William Shakespeare, buried at Stratford-upon-Avon in 1616, was given a monument in the Abbey in 1740. There are other poets and writers who got to be buried in the Abbey, and who are unknown today, but were famous in their time. On the other hand, there are many other great "masters of the quill" who were not buried in the Poets' Corner. Those who are buried here include John Dryden, Alfred Lord Tennyson, Charles Dickens, Thomas Hardy, while monuments were erected to John Milton, T.S. Eliot, John Keats, Jane Austin, Sir Walter Scott, and the Brontë sisters. Also, several former Deans and Canons of Westminster are laid here to rest, as well as George Friedrich Handel and Laurence Olivier.

St Paul's Cathedral

One of London's most recognizable landmarks, St Paul's Cathedral has been dominating the city's skyline for 300 years. It is located on Ludgate Hill, the highest point in the City of London, and is the seat of the Bishop of London. The present building, now surrounded with modern business buildings of the City, dates from the 17th century and was designed by Sir Christopher Wren. Wren's cathedral is, in fact, the fifth St Paul's Cathedral to have been built on the same site in London since 604 AD. Between 1710 and 1962, the cathedral, with its 365 feet, was the tallest building in London. Today, it is a busy working church with services held every day, which all are welcome to attend. Although Westminster Abbey is used for most of royal ceremonies, St Paul's Cathedral was the site of the wedding of Charles, Prince of Wales, and Lady Diana Spencer. The religious service for Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee was also celebrated here.

History and architecture

There had been four churches built on the site of today's St Paul's Cathedral. The first Saxon cathedral was built in Lundenwic in 604 AD. The next building, built on the site around 886 AD, was destroyed in a horrible fire in 962. A new cathedral was begun the same year, but, as the previous one, it also burnt in 1087, as did the whole city. The fourth church (known as Old St Paul's in the 19th century) was begun by the Normans. This one also burnt in 1136, but only partly. The roof was rebuilt in wood, and the church was consecrated in 1240. An enlargement programme began in 1256 and was completed in 1314. The cathedral was consecrated in 1300 and it was the third-longest church in Europe with 585 feet (178 m) in length and 100 feet (30 m) in width (290 feet or 87 m across the transepts and crossing), and had one of Europe's tallest spires, at some 489 feet (149 m). However, by the 16th century the building was decaying and the Dissolution of the Monasteries and Chantries Acts led to the destruction of interior ornamentation and the cloisters, charnels, crypts, chapels, shrines, chantries and other buildings in St Paul's Churchyard. Open-air preaching took place at the northeast corner of the Churchyard. In 1561, the spire was destroyed by lightning but was not replaced. Architect Inigo Jones added the west front to the Cathedral in the 1630s. "Old St Paul's" had the same destiny as the previous three churches - it was destroyed in the Great Fire of London of 1666.

The task of designing a replacement building was assigned to Sir Christopher Wren in 1668. There were five general stages of design. Initial designs included the addition of a dome on the existing building to replace the dilapidated spire, and restoration of the interiors that would compliment the 1630 facade, designed by Inigo Jones. Although the ruins of the building were still thought to be workable, the entire structure was demolished in the 1670s. Wren’s second design was a Greek cross, which was considered to be too radical. His third proposal for the new cathedral was similar to the Greek cross design, though it had an extended nave. His critics argued that the design was too dissimilar from churches that already existed in England at the time to suggest any continuity within the Church of England. Clergymen preferred a Latin cross plan. Wren's fourth design, the Warrant design, sought to integrate the concepts of Renaissance harmony into a much more Gothic style. The Warrant design was slightly rotated on its site, so that it aligned not with true east, but with sunrise on Easter of the year construction began. The final design is different from the official Warrant design largely in its ornamentation. Wren received permission from the king to make "ornamental changes". These were made over the course of the thirty years as the church was constructed, and the most significant was to the dome. On 2 December 1697, thirty-two years and three months after the Great Fire of London, St Paul's Cathedral came into use. The Right Reverend Henry Compton, Bishop of London, preached the sermon, based on the text of Psalm 122. The first regular service was held on the following Sunday.

The first awe-inspiring feature of the cathedral is the nave, the long central section of the cathedral leading to the dome. This is a public and ceremonial area, designated for congregations at large services. The Great West Door is nine metres high, however, it is used only on ceremonial occasions. The three chapels at this end of the cathedral are All Souls' and St Dunstan's in the north aisle and the Chapel of the Order of St Michael and St George in the south aisle. The north aisle is located to the left of the Great West Door entrance. Along with the Chapel of All Souls, and the Chapel of St Dunstan, this area also inclues Wellington's monument. The Chapel of All Souls is located on the ground floor of the north-west tower. It was dedicated in 1925 to the memory of Field Marshal Lord Kitchener and the soldiers killed in WWI. The Chapel of All Souls is also known as the Kitchener Memorial Chapel. The Chapel of St Dunstan was consecrated in 1699 and was the second part of Wren's building to come into use. In 1905, it was dedicated to St Dunstan, the Bishop of London and Archbishop of Canterbury. Wellington's monument is dedicated to the Duke of Wellington. It is situated on the north aisle. The Chapel of St Michael and St George is situated on the south aisle. Initially, the chapel was the consistory court - the place where the bishop sat in judgement over the clergy or priests. Regular services are held in the Middlesex Chapel. William Holman Hunt's painting The Light of the World dominates the north transept. It dates from around 1900 and features the figure of Christ knocking on a door that opens from inside. This suggests that God can only enter our lives if we invite Him in. Admiral Nelson's monument features a figure of a lion, which is a symbol meaning that the person commemorated died in battle. Other memorials commemorate the landscape painter JMW Turner and the explorer Captain Robert Scott. Over the entrance to the crypt are three death's heads.

The quire is at the east of the cathedral's cross-shape. The quire was the first part of the cathedral to be built. The Bishop's throne (cathedra) is on the south side. The organ was installed in 1695. It is the third largest organ in the UK with 7,189 pipes, five keyboards and 138 organ stops. The present high altar dates from 1958. It is made of marble and carved and gilded oak. It features a magnificent canopy based on a sketch by Wren. This altar replaced a large Victorian marble altar and screen, which were damaged by a bomb in World War II. The wrought-iron gates in the north quire aisle were designed by the French master metalworker Jean Tijou, responsible for most of the decorative metalwork in the cathedral. The sculpture Mother and Child by Henry Moore, who is commemorated in the crypt, can also be found here. The south quire aisle contains a statue of the Virgin and Child, which was once part of the Victorian altar screen. There is also a marble effigy of John Donne who was a Dean of the Cathedral and one of Britain's best poets. The American Memorial Chapel is located at the east end of the cathedral, behind the high altar. It honours American servicemen and women who died in the UK during WWII. The three chapel windows date from 1960 and feature themes of service and sacrifice.

The dome of St Paul's Cathedral rises 365 feet above the City of London. This is one of the largest domes in the world. The space underneath the dome is the very centre of the cathedral, now used as the principal place of worship. One of the most amazing sights in St Paul's is looking up into the dome from the floor below and enjoying the grisaille mursal created by court painter Sir James Thornhill, featuring scenes from the life of St Paul. The dome weighs approximately 65,000 tonnes and is supported by eight pillars. Mosaics of prophets and saints, installed between 1864 and 1888, are situated between the arches of the inner dome. 259 steps up the dome is the Whispering Gallery, which runs around the interior of the dome. It was named after a charming quirk in its construction, which makes a whisper against its walls audible on the opposite side. The Stone Gallery is the first of two galleries above the Whispering Gallery, encircling the outside of the dome. The Stone Gallery stands at 173 ft (53.4 metres) from ground-level. 378 steps lead to it. The Golden Gallery is the smallest of the galleries. It runs around the highest point of the outer dome at 280ft (85.4 metres). To reach it, one must climb 530 steps. From there, visitors can enjoy panoramic views of London encompassing the River Thames, Tate Modern and Shakespeare's Globe Theatre. The original ball and cross were erected by Andrew Niblett in 1708. However, in 1821 they were replaced by a new ball and cross, designed by the Surveyor to the Fabric, CR Cockerell, and executed by R and E Kepp. Sir Christopher Wren's tomb is located in the south aisle at the east end of the crypt. Wren is surrounded by the tombs and memorials of his family. In the same section of the crypt, there are also many tombs and memorials of artists, scientists and musicians such as the painters Sir Joshua Reynolds and Sir John Everett Millais, the scientist Sir Alexander Fleming, the composer Sir Arthur Sullivan, and the sculptor Henry Moore.

Westminster Cathedral

Westminster Cathedral is the mother church of the Catholic community in England and Wales. It is also the Metropolitan Church and Cathedral of the Archbishop of Westminster. The Cathedral is dedicated to the Most Precious Blood of Jesus Christ. Westminster Cathedral is the largest Catholic church in England and Wales, and the seat of the Archbishop of Westminster. The Catholic Church hierarchy had only been restored in England and Wales in the late 19th century, and it was in memory of Cardinal Wiseman that the first substantial sum of money was raised for the new cathedral. The land for the new cathedral was acquired in 1884 by Cardinal Manning. Construction started in 1895 under the third archbishop Cardinal Vaughan. John Francis Bentley was the architect. The cathedral opened in 1903, but, for economical reasons, the decoration of the interior hardly even started and much remained to be completed. The consecration ceremony took place on 28 June 1910.

History

The cathedral site used to be known as Bulinga Fen. It formed part of the marsh around Westminster. The Benedictine monks, the builders and owners of Westminster Abbey, reclaimed it and subsequently used as a market and fairground. After the reformation, the land was tured into a maze, a pleasure garden and as a ring for bull-baiting. A part of the land was sold by the Abbey in the 17th century for the construction of a prison, which was later demolished and replaced by larger prison complex in 1834. In 1884, the site was acquired by the Catholic Church. The Cathedral Church of Westminster is dedicated to the Most Precious Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ. It was designed in the Early Christian Byzantine style by John Francis Bentley. The cathedral's interior, although incomplete, features fine marble-work and mosaics, while the fourteen Stations of the Cross, by the sculptor Eric Gill, are world renowned.

Cathedral's music

Westminster Cathedral has a noteworthy choral tradition. This musical excellence is a result of the shared efforts of Cardinal Vaughan and Sir Richard Runciman Terry, the cathedral's inaugural Master of Music. Terry prepared his choristers for a year before their first sung service in public. He is also to be thanked for reviving great quantities of Latin repertoire from the English Renaissance. The choir has commissioned many works from distinguished composers, such as Benjamin Britten and Ralph Vaughan Williams, and is especially celebrated for its performance of Gregorian chant and polyphony of the Renaissance. Since the cathedral doesn't have a separate quire, the choir are hidden from view in the apse behind the high altar. With the cathedral providing excellent acoustic, the choir's somewhat strange position contributes to its distinctive sound. The Grand Organ of four manuals and 81 stop is located in the west gallery. It was built by Henry Willis III from 1922 to 1932.