Westminster Abbey and so Much More

 Good afternoon! I am excited to tell everyone about my long but educating day at Westminster Abbey as well as places such as the House of Parliament and Buckingham Palace. I think it is very important for me to note that before today's tour I had very limited knowledge on Westminster Abbey as well as the royal family. When the tour started I was expecting to see a church similar to any other, but what I was not expecting was the amount of tombs and notable people buried inside the church. 


Ashes of Stephen Hawking. 


Learning that Westminster Abbey is thousands of years old was absolutely mind boggling, but it definitely helped me to appreciate it more than I would have had I visited on my own. There are many important people from the Renaissance buried here such as Queen Elizabeth I, Henry VII, and Queen Mary I along with countless others. During my tour of Westminster Abbey I was fortunate enough to take a look at some of their tombs. I had learned previously that Queen Mary I is also called "Bloody Mary" due to her killing many protestants, but today I learned that number is somewhere in the 3,000s - though David told us last week that Elizabeth was no better because she was killing catholics in the same manner. One thing that I find to be incredibly interesting is the history of religion in England, specifically Protestantism and Catholicism. I do know that King Henry VIII became protestant to be able to divorce his wives, but I did not know that Elizabeth and Mary had differing religious beliefs. Since Westminster Abbey is technically a protestant church I was very surprised to find out that there are catholics buried there as well. 

Stained glass inside of Westminster Abbey. 


Today I also learned that Westminster Abbey is where all royal weddings, coronations, and funerals take place. I am sure that is common knowledge to some, but to me that was news! Something else that I really appreciated throughout the church was the plaques and statues of notable people, even those who are not buried there. For example, there is a statue of William Shakespeare that I found to be beautiful, and I appreciated that he is recognized within the church even though he is buried in Stratford-upon-Avon. Just because he is not buried there does not mean that he was not incredibly important to the Renaissance as well as London. 

Shakespeare Statue. 


Following our tour of Westminster Abbey I was able to learn about England's government. Just because England is a Monarchy does not mean that it doesn't have other government officials. We visited the outside of the House of Parliament, we saw where the Prime Minster lives and we got to see Buckingham Palace. What stole the show for me though was Big Ben - I enjoyed hearing the bells sound on the hour! All in all today was such a great day and I left the tour knowing so much more than I did before! One little fun fact (that is actually fun) is that building styles were named after the Monarchy at the time; for example, 'Victorian Style' is named after Queen Victoria! 

Outside of Westminster Abbey. 


Coming up with my two questions was incredibly easy today and they are: 

1) I wonder if Queen Mary I would be upset to know that she is buried in a Protestant church, being as she is Catholic. Considering she received her nickname from her religious beliefs, I have a hard time believing that she would be happy to know where she is laid to rest. 

2) Who decides who gets laid to rest or a monument within Westminster Abbey? Has there ever been a time where people have disagreed with someone being placed inside the church/having a monument inside? How are those disagreements handled? 





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