Church of England: The Sequel

After arriving back in London from our sunrise Stonehenge experience (and a very short nap to partially recover from a lost night's sleep), my boyfriend and I headed back out into the city. It was about the right time in the day for afternoon tea, so this was the one day we decided to carve out an hour and stop for tea, scones, the entire ritual. (Side note: "clotted cream" sounds positively disgusting if you ask me, but oh my how crazy-delicious it actually is!)

Tradition observed, we then set out for Westminster Abbey.


Like St. Paul's Cathedral, this was another location that didn't allow photography inside. And speaking of St. Paul's Cathedral, I admit that part of me might have been reluctant to go tour another church.

I'm pleased to say that it was totally worth going to both locations. The two, both beautiful, are actually not very similar. St. Paul's is impressive in its clean architecture and construction, and is most striking artistically in its paintings. Westminster Abbey is much more about the interesting jagged points of Gothic design and some amazing sculpture.

Another key difference is that it was in Westminster Abbey that we found crypts with more of the atmosphere we were hoping to see in the level below St. Paul's Cathedral. There are many famous figures interred within the Abbey, many in large stone caskets decorated with death shroud statues and spooky gargoyles or frescoes. Both Queen Elizabeth I and her rival Mary are there, along with a host of other British kings and queens.

More interesting still are the large number of figures buried or memorialized in Westminster Abbey that were not part of the church. Military figures, starting with Oliver Cromwell, can be found at the Abbey. Geoffrey Chaucer's connections with the Abbey saw him buried there, and that began an area now known as Poet's Corner, where all manner of famous British writers are honored.

Most striking of all to an American tourist is the fact that both Isaac Newton and Charles Darwin are buried at Westminster Abbey. Newton in particular has an elaborate stone statue marking his crypt. Given the oil-and-water state of science and religion in the U.S., it's impossible to imagine any church here being the final resting place of men like these. I think I prefer the British way myself.

An added bonus of visiting Westminster Abbey: Jeremy Irons narrates the guided tour you can listen to while walking through the building.

For astounding architectural grandeur, it's hard to top Westminster Abbey. I'd definitely recommend at least a brief visit, should you ever have the chance.