Experience 2: Lighting a Candle in Westminster Abbey

I didn’t get inside Westminster Abbey on my two previous trips to London. The first trip, we visited the day after Ash Wednesday and the Abbey was closed; last year, we simply didn’t have time. I’m happy to say we made time for this magnificent Abbey. One of the tour books I read said to allow an hour or so for our visit—in reality, we spent four hours at the Abbey and probably would have stayed longer but they were closing!

When we think about history in the United States, we think in terms of a couple hundred years or so. It is breathtaking to stand inside Westminster Abbey and realize that over a thousand years of history have taken place there. Founded in 960 AD as a Benedictine monastery, most of the church was built between 1245 and 1272 on the orders of Henry III. Beginning with William the Conqueror in 1066, most of the monarchs have been crowned here. The Coronation Chair (which appears to have graffiti scratched into the wood, which makes me want to research further) has been used in every coronation since 1308. Geoffrey Chaucer was buried at Westminster Abbey in 1400. There is so much history in this building, it is overwhelming to even attempt to contemplate it all.

Strangely, Westminster Abbey seemed both smaller and larger than I imagined. It is a tremendous space, but there are so many twist and turns it often feels very small and intimate. I jokingly said it reminded me of grandma’s house—so many knick-knacks, it’s overcrowded! The knick-knacks in this case are the various memorials, effigies, tombs, busts and statues that the Abbey has accumulated over the centuries. There literally isn’t any space left for anything else! Also, the Abbey is a “living church,” and services are still held there. It’s easy to forget this is a church that people attend regularly given the touristy appeal (not to mention the £10 ticket price!), but approximately every hour they ask visitors to pause while they say a prayer. It is a nice reminder of not only the age of the Abbey, but its purpose.

I had told my friend Jae before I left Virginia that I would light a candle and say a prayer at any church I visited in England, in preparation for our skydiving adventure with our friend Nick later this month. As Jay and I finished our tour of the Abbey, I paused in the Nave to light a candle and sit for a moment, absorbing the experience. Tears came to my eyes, the same reaction I had last year when I visited Bath Abbey in Bath, England. It is a humbling moment to sit in such a magnificent place and truly understand what it represents. The people who have walked those floors, who have prayed at those altars, who have been buried beneath those stones. It is English history, but it is also world history—and my history. On leaving the Abbey, the guidebook instructs you to look over your shoulder at the statues of the 20th Century martyrs, which were added above the west door of the Abbey in 1996. This recent addition only adds to the living aspect of Westminster Abbey; it isn’t some old, dusty place of forgotten history, it is still very much alive and relevant to modern culture.

We also visited the gardens of the Abbey, which are beautiful and serene. The gardens are in what is essentially the backyard of the clergy who reside there and the students who live in Westminster School’s dormitory. Like the Abbey, the gardens are rich with history, most of which I didn’t learn until got home and read the brochure I picked up. It is believed that these gardens are the oldest in England, having been cultivated for nearly one thousand years. It was a beautiful spot to visit, lush and green and in sharp contrast to the gray stone and marble of the Abbey.

We weren’t able to take pictures inside the Abbey (I think that's probably because the Abbey can get pretty crowded— if everyone stopped to take pictures along the way it would create an awful bottle-neck), but I have a few pictures of the outside and the gardens. It is a magnificent place I hope to visit again—after I do more research!


Do It Yourself

If you go to Westminster Abbey…

--Buy a guide, sit in one of the chairs near the entrance and read it. Though my temptation was to immediately start exploring, the guide offers some valuable information about where to look and what to see. I didn’t do the audio tour, but you might consider that, as well. It helps to know what you’re looking at while you’re looking at it rather than see it and read about it afterward.

--Observe the moment of silence and prayer that occurs every hour or so.

--Go early. One of my tour books recommended scheduling “at least an hour” to visit the Abbey. I would say allow at least three hours, especially if you’re interested in history, churches, architecture or the arts. Don’t be rushed by people who are determined to get in and out as quickly as possible. I found myself stepping aside on more than one occasion to let families of four or more move ahead.

--Don’t miss the gardens. It’s a pleasant place to spend an hour, cloistered from the rest of the world.

--Let me know if you find my favorite inscription, about the woman who was well-endowed both mentally and physically!