Hardcore Goth continued: Westminster Abbey

The next weekend excursion was to Westminster Abbey, where every monarch is crowned and also entombed. Salisbury Cathedral was cool, but the multimedia guided tour through this one was pretty special too.

A shot of the front, in which you would look more closely to appreciate the detail carved in the stone.

This is a full shot of the Abbey front. You can also see Big Ben pretty clearly from where we would have been standing here.

Close shot of the altar in the nave.

Wide shot of the nave.

These flags are heraldry of the order of Bath...house of Bath? I can't remember.

Here is the choir area...if you look closely you can see signs for the four commonwealths.

The coronation chair is kept near the front until they need it for an actual coronation, but yes this is the very old chair in which all monarchs still sit when they are crowned.

In the actual coronation room, the original floor remains in pretty spectacular detail.

In an area called the chapter house, where the monks used to meet, there is still a small part of the original tiled floor.

A lot of the murals on the wall of the chapter house have deteriorated, but some remain. This depicted the story of the lamb and the seven seals.

A lot of the stained glass windows were lost in WWII during the Blitz, but they were replaced with as much Victorian glass as possible.

The Pyx chamber is where a lot of the loot was kept. Note this gnarly heavy wood and iron door, which is the original.

Windows and ceiling in the Chapel of the Lady, which is obviously devoted to Mary, hence all the blue in the windows, which is supposedly her color.

Now onto the tombs...here is Elizabeth I.

Memorialized along with her sister here...

The tomb of Mary Queen of Scots here below...

You have to appreciate the detail of the tombs, for instance, this is an image of death aiming his arrow at some important lady who died in childbirth...check out the vertebra.

With all of these tombs, the person is always depicted with an animal at their feet...here's somebody's favorite dog.

A lot of times, the animal at their feet is a lion.

And here we come to Poet's Corner, an area devoted to famous writers and poets of the realm.

The Bronte sisters' area was so tiny I couldn't find it and Danielle had to find it for me.

This guy got a good space on the floor though...

Here were many poets including D.H. Lawrence, who was always one of my favorites.

And this is Shakespeare's area...probably the largest and most detailed.

Teacher's note: The Abbey is an important part of British history, but there is a fee to enter, so it might be best to leave a visit up to the students' discretion. If you are a poet or writer, though, I think you should be obligated to pay your respects to the greats. RIP!