Westminster Abbey [antikvár]

WESTMINSTER ABBEY by Edward Carpenter Archdeacon of Westminster Westminster Abbey is one of the most famous and widely visited of churches in Christendom. Originally built as part of a Benedictine monastery by that strange but compelling personality King Edward the Confessor, his successor, Henry III, In the middle of the thirteenth century, at a time when new techniques such as flying buttresses made possible loftier roofs with more slender supporting columns, was more ambitious. He lived long enough to rebuild the old Norman Abbey east of the present Choir Screen—this In Itself was a prodigious achievement—the Nave being constructed progressively throughout the Middle Ages in the same basic style. Henry VII Chapel, erected in the early sixteenth century. Is one of the Abbey's greatest glories and Is illustrated on a later page. It Is a pity, perhaps, that Westminster Abbey was never given, like old St Paul's, a central spire—Sir Christopher Wren, Surveyor of the Fabric for some years, certainly wished It—even though the two western towers now seem an essential part of the Abbey's general appearance. Today, newly cleaned, and with colour introduced on to many of its tombs and memorials, the Abbey can be seen to better advantage than for centuries. The chandeliers, a munificent gift during the 900th anniversary year and designed to take the height of the building, refract light, Important In a building which has lost its original stained glass. They are as beautiful by day as when lit up. The general effect is one of buoyancy and grace as well as an architectural symmetry which is satisfying intellectually and most pleasing aesthetically. Though the Abbey bears traces of continental influence it yet shows a pronounced native genius for adaptation. Various factors have contributed to make the Abbey the institution which we know today. Indeed it Is its history. Painting of St century Retabie i < iiiviVCfti m-m mm mM 1.1,!'