SCRIPTURECAST.NET

Dickens Good

The Great and Good of Britain Buried at Westminster Abbey

One of England's most famous burial sites is at Westminster Abbey where the Famous and Good of Britain are buried. I thought as a fan of history I would list all those buried at Westminster Abbey through the ages. Virtually every royal burial for the nearly 500 years between the deaths of Henry III in 1272 and George II in 1760 took place in Westminster Abbey. The two notable exceptions were Henry VIII and Charles I, both of whom were buried at Windsor Castle. (All monarchs from George III onwards have since been interred at Windsor.)

The Abbey is also the final resting-place for the great and the good of the nation. Many of Britain's most celebrated statesmen, scientists, writers and composers are buried here, while others among the notability – such as Shakespeare and Churchill – have memorials in the Abbey, even though their remains lie elsewhere.

This is a selection of the names you might look out for on a visit to the Abbey, and where to find them:

The Nave

• Clement Attlee (1883-1967) – Labour prime minister 1945-51, whose government oversaw the creation of the National Health Service and the disengagement from India.

• Charles Darwin (1809-82) – naturalist, proponent of evolution, author of The Origin Of Species.

• Ben Jonson (1572-1637) – dramatist, actor and Poet Laureate.

• David Livingstone (1813-73) – explorer and medical missionary.

• Isaac Newton (1643-1727) – physicist and mathematician.

• Robert Stephenson (1803-59) – civil engineer, designer of railway bridges.

 

The North Transept

Buried here are three more of the great prime ministers:

• William Pitt the Elder (1708-78).

• His son, William Pitt the Younger (1759-1806).

• William Gladstone (1809-98).

The South Transept

Here you'll find the famous Poets' Corner, final home of…

• Novelist Charles Dickens (1812-70), composer, George Handel (1685-1759), actor, Laurence Olivier (1907-89), poets Robert Browning (1812-89), Geoffrey Chaucer (c.1343-1400), John Dryden (1631-1700), Thomas Hardy (1840-1928), Samuel Johnson (1709-84), Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936), Edmund Spenser (1552-99) and Alfred Lord Tennyson (1809-92).

North Choir Aisle

Appropriately enough, two composers are buried here:

• Henry Purcell (1659-95).

• Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958).

Henry VII's Chapel

• Elizabeth I (1533-1603)

• Mary Queen of Scots (1542-87)

• Here lies the father of the modern postal system, Rowland Hill (1795-1879).

Gone but not forgotten

• Oliver Cromwell (1599-1658) was originally buried in the Abbey, but his remains were exhumed on the orders of Charles II in 1661, and subjected to a posthumous hanging at Tyburn.

• Admiral Robert Blake (1599-1657), parliamentarian and naval commander during Cromwell's Commonwealth, was buried in the Abbey too, but was also exhumed after the Restoration.

Below is the A to Z of Famous Icons buried at Westminster Abbey:

A

• Joseph Addison

• Anne of Cleves

• Clement Attlee

B

• Aphra Behn

• Lady Frances Brandon

C

• Caroline of Ansbach

• Charles Darwin

• Geoffrey Chaucer

 

D

• Charles Dickens

E

• Edward the Confessor

• Prince Edward, Duke of York and Albany

H

• Thomas Hardy

J

• Samuel Johnson

• Ben Johnson

K

• Rudyard Kipling

N

• Isaac Newton

• Anne Mowbray, 8th Countess of Norfolk

O

• Laurence Olivier

P

• Henry Purcell

U

• The Unknown Warrior

 

Please visit my Funny Animal Art Prints Collection @ http://www.fabprints.com

My other website is called Directory of British Icons: http://fabprints.webs.com

The Chinese call Britain 'The Island of Hero's' which I think sums up what we British are all about. We British are inquisitive and competitive and are always looking over the horizon to the next adventure and discovery.

Copyright © 2011 Paul Hussey. All Rights Reserved.

About the Author

I have recently decided to write articles on my favourite subjects: English Sports, English History, English Icons, English Discoveries and English Inventions.

At present I have written many articles which I call "An Englishman's Favourite Bits Of England" as various chapters.

The Chinese call Britain 'The Island of Hero's' which I think sums up what we British are all about. We British are inquisitive and competitive and are always looking over the horizon to the next adventure and discovery.

Please visit my Blogs page http://Bloggs.Resourcez.Com where I have listed my most recent articles to date.

Copyright © 2011 Paul Hussey. All Rights Reserved.

<!-- End of StatCounter Code -->

Benjamin Baumbach and Hillary Dickens. good singers.