It's been a few years since I was last at Westminster Abbey. I'd forgotten how crowded it becomes and I'll gripe about the fact that there are only four toilets for women! Four? Yes, of course there was a queue. We also had to queue for the restaurant, but luckily as there was just two of us, we didn't have to wait long. Gripe over.
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| Tomb of the Unknown Warrior |
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| Alfred Russel Wallace and Charles Darwin |
Legend say that Westminster Abbey was founded in around 960 when Dunstan, Bishop of London, brought twelve Benedictine monks from Glastonbury. But the real history begins one hundred years later when Edward the Confessor founded his church here. Since then Kings and Queens have been crowned here. The coronation chair (c1300) can now be seen behind a glass window in a chapel (or space) near the exit. Last time I was here it was on general view. This chair, of course, was last used for King Charles III this year.
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| Coronation chair |
There are many side chapels in the abbey. Many were crowded with school parties or abbey guides and even with a plan of the abbey we weren't always certain just where we were. I have to say with all the gold and wealthy tombs, the place I found most affecting was the Pyx chamber with its altar and dates from 1065 and 1090. The altar was dedicated to St Dunstan in 1982, but I was rather disappointed to find that this altar was a workbench in the 14th century,used to measure the silver content of coinage.
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| Mary Queen of Scots |
There have been new names added to the floors or around the cloisters since I was last here. Stephen Hawking and Halley as in Halley's comet. And there is Poets Corner and the musicians aisle. However, the place both my friend and I enjoyed the most was the Jubilee Galleries in the roof space. This is relatively new and used as a museum. We found some fascinating pieces up here. Photography is not allowed in the galleries, but I did manage one shot from the top overlooking the abbey. What fascinated us the most were the funeral masks and figures. The life-sized figures of kings and queens and other noblemen had jointed limbs and were painted. Some had clothes. We'd never seen anything like it and quite the highlight of the whole day (well for me).
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| Pyx Chamber |
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| Cloisters |
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| Taken from the cloisters |
You need a day to go round the abbey as it's much bigger than you realise. We'd hoped to take a riverboat trip afterwards, but we'd run out of time. This is one of the big tourists destinations, but for me, it was all rather too much.
David Hockney at the Lightroom
I am a big fan of David Hockney, but even I was pleasantly surprised by this exhibition. The Lightroom can be found by Coal Drops Yard in Kings Cross. There is a cafe/bar on the ground floor and the exhibition is in the basement.
It is one of those new immersive experience exhibitions where you sit through a film which is on loop. Screens are on all four sides showing slightly different angles or parts of a painting. Hockney spoke over each pieces (there is sub-titles at the top, which even I found useful as the sound could be a bit echoey). Not only does Hockney explain how he came to choose different forms of art (he has done collage with photos through to ipad painting), he also guides you through some of the work. With the ipad painting you watch as he begins, adding layer upon layer of colour to bring a piece to life. We were so enthralled that the time skipped by.
I really loved this exhibition. Absolutely fascinating, and of course, very colourful!
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| This was in the middle of changing view |
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Window by David Hockney at Westminster Abbey!
I saw the window in the abbey, but didn't get a photo on the day. |
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