London - Westminster Abbey and Kings Cross Station

Our next stop was Westminster Abbey where England's royalty has had their weddings, coronations, and burials since 1066. There are 3,000 tombs, and the remains of 29 kings and queens, and hundreds of memorials to important people of society. 

The Abbey was originally a small monastic community. Around the year 1052 King St. Edward the Confessor began rebuilding the Abbey so they would have a royal burial church. It was the first church in England built in this style. He died a week after the church was consecrated and his successor William the Conqueror was crowned in the church. St. Edward was buried in the church and after he was canonized by the Pope, Westminster became a place of pilgrimage. Most of the church that we see today was built by King Henry III between 1245-1272. He wanted to provide a great new shrine for St. Edward. Throughout all the work at Westminster the monks continued to follow the monastic Rule of St. Benedict. Life changed here during the reign of King Henry VIII. When the Pope would not grant King Henry VIII a divorce he revolted against the Catholic Church and started his new church (Church of England - Anglican). Henry VIII dissolved the monasteries and churches including Westminster. In 1560 Queen Elizabeth establishes the Abbey as a collegiate church. 

Most recent events in this church:

1953 Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II

1997 Funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales

2002 Funeral of Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother

2010 Pope Benedict XVI holds a Service of Prayer

2011 Wedding of The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge

Quire Screen

We walked through the quire to the main alter. This is where the monks once chanted their services and where, today, the Abbey boys' choir sings the evensong. The Abbey's 10-story nave is the tallest in England. I had to get a few of these pictures online because they would not let you take pictures inside - again I still did take a few but then K got really embarrassed so I had to stop. 

Looking at the Main Alter

This is the tomb of St. Edward the Confessor. It used to be really pretty tomb but Henry VIII melted down the gold coffin case. The tomb is now surrounded by the tombs of eight kings and queens. On his feast day - October 16th the Abbey is open free of charge and there are celebrations all week long.  

St. Edward's Tomb

This is the tomb of Queen Elizabeth I and Mary I, even though there is only one effigy on the tomb (Elizabeth's). Both Henry VIII's daughters are buried here (by different mothers). Elizabeth holds the orb symbolizing that she was queen of the whole globe. 

Chapel of King Henry VII- this is located behind the main alter

Tomb of Mary, Queen of Scots

This is the coronation chair that has been used for every coronation since 1308. The chair's legs rest on lions which is England's symbol. 

Coronation Chair

After we were done walking around the church we walked around the cloisters. These are buildings that adjoin the church and housed the monks. 

There was a plaque next to this door that said it dates
back to 1050 and is probably the oldest wooden door in England. 

This is the Pyx Chamber which is one of the oldest parts of the Abbey and the oldest rooms in London. Later this room was walled off and became a royal treasury. There is a medieval alter which indicates that the room was also used for worship at some time, and it is still used now. In the chamber was kept a "pyx" or box that contained standard pieces of gold and silver against which the current coinage was tested each year. 

Pyx Chamber

This is St. Margaret's Church which is on the grounds of Westminster Abbey. It was originally founded in the 12th century by the Benedictine monks so that the local people who live in the area around the Abbey could go to mass separately at a smaller church. Winston Churchill got married here at St. Margaret's. This church also is now part of the Church of England. 

We then took our Big Bus out to Kings Cross Station. Everyone should know why we went there...too see Platform 9 3/4!!! 

Kings Cross train station

The best pictures EVER!!! There was a line to pose for this picture but it moved pretty fast. Notice in L's picture she put her purple Queen Bear in the cart. 



They recently opened a little Harry Potter shop next to the Platform 9 3/4. I am sure it gets loads of business since this has become a tourist attraction. We all had a lot of fun in this shop looking around. 

The Wands

Then we took the Big Bus back to Victoria Station. We found a quick place to eat dinner before we walked back to our b&b. The children wrote out some postcards before we all went to bed. We were exhausted!