This is Day 3 of my adventures, and I've already been inside Westminster Abbey 3 times -- Sunday night for an organ concert, this morning as a tourist, and tonight for Evensong. I had been to Westminster Abbey on previous visits but was never able to take photos inside. This time I could, and I went a little crazy. In all the years I've had a cell phone, I don't think I've taken as many pictures with it total as I took just today! Don't worry, I'll just share a small sample here The picture above is of the Quire and the one below is of the altar just outside the screen.
I love the quote on the cloth covering the altar, "The tongues of flame are infolded into the crowned knot of fire and the fire and the rose are one." I specifically remember this from evensong back in 2016 and was happy to see it again. Behind and to the left of this altar is the tomb of Sir Isaac Newton.
For better or for worse, I can now no longer see this without thinking of the lines Dan Brown penned in The Da Vinci Code: "In London lies a knight a Pope interred / His labor's fruit a Holy wrath incurred / You seek the orb that ought be on his tomb / It speaks of Rosy flesh and seeded womb." For those of you who have not seen the movie or read the book, can you figure out the answer to the riddle?
Very near Isaac Newton's tomb is that of Stephen Hawking. There are many other memorials or tombs in this area for other scientists such as William Herschel, Michael Faraday, Charles Darwin, James Clerk Maxwell, Paul Dirac, and many, many more!
The picture above and below are of the high altar.
It's good to see C. S. Lewis memorialized in poets corner - along with such luminaries as Shakespeare, Jane Austen, the Bronte Sisters, W. H. Auden, G. F. Handel, Keats, Shelley, etc., etc., etc. The memorial stone for Lewis was placed 50 years after his death.
I thought I'd put up a "different" picture of the Lady Chapel than just a straight-on picture of the fan-vaulted ceiling. This is a view from the far east end of the cathedral, looking through the tomb of Henry VII and Elizabeth of York, parents of King Henry VIII.
And I'll close out the Westminster portion with a view of the cloisters.
The three hours I spent looking around in Westminster Abbey absolutely flew by, but I am really feeling it tonight! By the time I finished I had to book it on over to Lambeth Palace Library to make it for my reading slot. This next bit might actually end up being the highlight of the entire trip! In my studies of John Napier, I have only been able to locate ONE document written in his own hand. It is the
Secret inventions, profitable and necessary in these days for defence of this island. In it he describes ideas for war machines for protecting Britain against another Spanish Armada, which was a very real possibility in the 1590s. His war machines are reminiscent of those of Archimedes and da Vinci: tanks, submarines, burning mirrors, etc. For some reason that I have not yet been able to discern, this document is in the Anthony Bacon papers, so today I read the 1596 volume from the Bacon collection. I was supposed to have done so in 2020, but the library shut down due to the pandemic THE DAY BEFORE I was supposed to have read there. OK, without further ado, here are pictures of the library and the readings.
I do have permission to post the following images, and I want to thank the Lambath Palace Library for that permission. The shelf mark is MS 658 of the Bacon Papers. The first four pictures are of the Napier document, but I found everything in here so interesting that I'm going to include pictures of a few other pages as well. Bacon was a spymaster during the time of Elizabeth I, and some of these letters contain coded writing. It was astonishing to touch and see the Napier document, but it was equally astonishing to be holding and reading the letters of an Elizabethan spymaster!!
"Anno Domini 1596, 7 of June - Secrett inventiones"
Napier writes of the creation of these weapons for the protection of Britain and says of them "I hope to perform" and signs "John Napier Fear of Merchiston" ("Jo Nepar fear of Marcistam").
I really came in just for the John Napier, but the more deeply I study his life, the more deeply I get pulled into the lives of others of his day, and Anthony Bacon is one of those. One thing that really caught my eye was the code used in this next letter (8th line from the bottom). It kind of reminds me of the Babbington Code, but it's not that.
And then there's this letter that is mostly numbers, which seem to me also must be code.
I loved the addresses, openings, and closings of the letters. Can you imagine addressing the outside of your envelope with "To the Righteous and Worshipfull my Singular good friend Mr. Anthony Bacon Esquire at Essex House?"
Can you imagine ending a letter (or email) with "Your most affectionate to command?"
OK, time to wind up this post, and I'm really of two minds here given my two grand adventures today, so I have two closing pictures. The first is a picture representing the joy of triumph and features my girl Boudicea whose picture I always take when I'm in town. The second is also a picture I always take when I am in town, and that is of the blessing on the west wall of Westminster Abbey, and so I conclude with grace and peace for today.
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