Westminster’s Place in Nation’s History

Northern Advocate, 5 December 1947, Page 6

Westminster’s Place in Nation’s History

Close to the Houses of Parliament and Big Ben, “surrounded by busy streets full of motor-cars and bright red ‘buses,’’ stands Westminster Abbey, which was founded back in the 11th century, and is “entwined by many continuous threads with the history of a whole nation.”

The story of Westminster Abbey begins in the 11th century, with Edward the Confessor, and marks the beginning of London as the capital city of England. In spite of its fame and wealth, London in Roman times took second place to St Albans and York, and in Saxon times Winchester was the capital. But when Edward the Confessor became king, he built his palace at Westminster, partly because of his friendship with the Abbot of Westminster and partly because of his religious fervour for St Peter, to whom he dedicated the costly and magnificent Westminster Abbey. 900 YEARS AGO That was 900 years ago, and today there is hardly the slightest trace of the Confessor’s building left. But London has never been without its Abbey, and now it stands on the same site, but surrounded by busy streets full of motor cars, bright red ’buses, and vehicles of all sorts'. Across the road are the Houses of Parliament and Big Ben, and in the same grounds is the Church of St Margaret’s, Westminster the official church of the House of Commons, and the scene of many society weddings. The official title of Westminster Abbey, is the Collegiate Church of St Peter, Westminster, and in it our Kings and Queens have been crowned, and very many of them buried. There, too, is the tomb of the Unknown Warrior, buried on November 11, 1920, in the presence of the King and the royal family. Famous statesmen, scientists, auth-ors—-in fact, famous men in every walk of life—arc either buried or have memorials to their memory there. FIRST CORONATION The first coronation to be celebrated in the Abbey was that of William the Conqueror, and it was marked by incidents that augured anything but well for its future. The Abbey was filled with a congregation of both Normans and English. and when they were asked whether they would have William for their king, their shouts of agreement were so loud that the Norman troops outside took the noise to be a sign that a riot had started in the building. Some prompty rushed to the English houses round about, and set fire to them, while others drawing their swords, ran into the Abbey. The sight of soldiers, the crackling of the flames, and the smell of the smoke started a panic in the building, ] and the congregation rushed out and joined in the general fight that was rapidly developing. William was left alone in the Abbey with a handful of soldiers and a few terrified priests, and the ceremony of his coronation was rushed through without any.of the solemn pomp, that should have accompanied it TWO EXCEPTIONS Every sovereign since, with the exception of the nominal Edward V and the abdicated Edward VIII, has been crowned there, and many have altered and added to the original building—) notably Henry 111, who pulled down the greater part of the Abbey and started rebuilding' it round about 1245; j and Henry VII, who built the chapel that bears his name to this day. Probably the most notable event in the Abbey’s history occurred about 1303. In those days, the royal treasures and the wealth of the nation, were housed in a crypt of the Abbey, and while Edward I was away on his Scottish wars, the treasure was stolen. This was the work of a certain Richard de Podlicote and his accomplices, who planted a large crop of hemp in the nearby graveyard. When this had grown long enough the robbery took place, the treasures were hidden in the tangled mass of hemp, and afterwards gradually smuggled away. The Abbot of Westminster and 48 of his monks were arrested, but eventually released. Most of the treasure was recovered, and de Podlicote was hanged. STANDS ALONE In mediaeval times, and indeed, until the beginning of the last century it was customary for a waxen effigy to be made of a sovereign or member cf the nobility who had died. These figures, dressed in the correct clothes, were carried in the funeral procession, and afterwards set up in the Abbey. The effigy of Lord Nelson was dressed in one of his actual uniforms, and he it was who. just, before the battle of Cape St Vincent, exclaimed: ‘Victory j or Westminster Abbey!' ] Dean Stanley wrote of the Abbey that it ‘stands alone amongst the buildings of the world. ‘There are, there may be, some which surpass it in beauty and grandeur; there are others certainly, which surpass it in depth and sublimity of association, but there is none which has been entwined by so many continuous threads with the history of a whole nation.”