When we went to London, we visited Westminster Abbey. Westminster Abbey has been part of British history for more than 1000 years. It was built in 928 AD and it is the main church of England. It was founded by Benedictine monks. The coronation for the Queen Elizabeth II was there in 1953, and kings and queens have been crowned there for a very long time. The first coronation was William the Conqueror in 1066! We got to see the coronation chair, which is more than 700 years old. We weren’t allowed to take pictures of it though.
Besides coronations, there have been royal weddings and funerals held at Westminster Abbey. But it’s most interesting as a burial ground for more than 3000 important British people: kings, queens, royalty, soldiers, poets, writers, scientists, and priests. When we went to Westminster Abbey in October, I saw the tombs and burials of many historical figures. Some of the ones I was excited to see were Sir Isaac Newton, Charles Darwin, Nelson Mandela and most recently Stephen Hawking. We also saw King Henry III, Richard II, Edward I, and Mary Queen of Scots. There were a bunch of names I didn’t know but many I did know. Many writers and poets are buried there such as William Blake, Charles Dickens, T.S. Eliot, Lord Byron, the Bronte sisters, and Jane Austen. It was pretty amazing. It was really interesting to see the final resting place of so many famous poets, scientists and royals during my visit there. We weren’t supposed to take pictures but my dad took a few sneaky ones of the graces I wanted to see.
One very special tomb at Westminster Abbey is the Unknown Warrior. It was in the floor by the entrance and a lot of people paid their respects there.
While we were in Westminster Abbey one of the monks came up to me and my brother and took us to the Quire. These are the big wooden stalls where the choir sings. It was neat to stand there knowing people had stood there to sing for 1000 years and still sing there to this day.
I also made a prayer request in Westminster Abbey. I prayed for healing and peace for my Nanny, who had a stroke this year. We had just visited her in Bournemouth. My mom made a prayer request for my shark bite arm to heal.
