The Wolseley Grand Café - London

The Wolseley Grand Café
160 Piccadilly (Green Park, Mayfair); 020 7499 6996
www.thewolseley.com (Tube: Green Park)
Open M-F 7.00a to midnight, Sat 8.00a to midnight and Sun 8.00a-11.00p.
Breakfast, lunch and dinner; morning pastries, afternoon tea and all-day menu of sandwiches, salads, crustacea and plats du jour. Coffee and tea served throughout the day.

Scones served at high tea.

The main dining room exudes an über-masculine atmosphere, tempered by good linen, silverware and impeccable service. Off to the side is a café with a more casual decór. Afternoon tea, served from 3:30-6:30, offers generous stacks of finger sandwiches, scones and pastries accompanied by properly brewed pots of tea.

In 1921, Wolseley Motors Limited commissioned architect William Curtis Green to design a prestigious car showroom in London’s West End. He drew on Venetian and Florentine influences and fashioned an interior of grand pillars, arches and stairways. The Wolseley cars were displayed on the marble floor and cost between £225-£1300.

A Wolseley motorcar radiator badge.

Unfortunately, the cars did not sell well, and by 1926 the company was bankrupt and shortly thereafter absorbed into the automotive group headed by William Morris. The last Wolseley automobile rolled off the assembly line in 1975.


Barclays Bank acquired the building, and the branch opened in 1927. William Curtis Green was once more retained to install offices and a banking counter. He also designed specialized furniture, including a post box and stamp machine, which are on display today. Barclays remained until 1999.

Chris Corbin and Jeremy King secured the site in July 2003 and its restoration and renovation was overseen by David Collins Architects. The Wolseley Grand Café opened in late 2003, and became the most popular restaurant in London, descended upon by celebrities. Its location, next to the Ritz Hotel, doesn't hurt business.

St Paul's Cathedral - London

The 2000 Millennium pedestrian bridge crosses the Thames and leads dramatically to St. Paul's, which dominates the skyline.


Following the Great Fire of 1666, Christopher Wren oversaw the rebuilding of more than 50 churches, but his undisputed masterpiece is St Paul's Cathedral (Anglican), London's largest and most famous church. St Paul's, situated on the highest point of land in London, is the seat of the Bishop of London. Wren was 43 years old when the foundation stone was laid in 1677 and 79 years old when it was completed. Wren's design replaced a beloved medieval cathedral (lost in the fire of 1666) that had been built atop an ancient Roman temple to Diana, goddess of the hunt.

Wren had visited Paris and was influenced by François Mansart’s masterpiece Val-de-Grâce, which included a dome. Many were critical of Wren's design for St Paul's, stating that the dome bore too strong a resemblance to St Peter's Basilica in Rome (completed in 1626), thus being too Catholic. It is reported that Wren wept when his first plan was rejected, and Wren was forced to accommodate dozens of changes to his original plan. The frescoes on the Great Dome above the crossing and the mosaics on the choir ceiling (not completed until 1895) are particularly notable. There was damage to the cathedral during WWII, and most of the area surrounding St Paul's has been rebuilt with modern buildings.

This photo reveals the stunning, rich decorative details of St Paul's interior and the magnificent baldachin over the altar. Click to enlarge.

Most people will recognize St Paul's from the televised wedding of Prince Charles and Princess Diana (1981), which was watched by 750 million people. More mature visitors might recall that Winston Churchill's funeral took place here in 1965.

St Paul's contains the tombs and memorials of Lord Nelson, Florence Nightingale, John Donne and T.E. Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia), among many others.

Before you take on the celebrated climb to the top of the dome (365-ft tall), consider that your trek will include 628 steps, and you'll pay extra for the privilege. Unlike most cathedrals of the world, there is an admission charge to visit St Paul's (£11 per adult, and that does not include a guidebook or tour, both of which are extra), except Sundays, when visitors may attend a worship service. St Paul's opens to visitors Mon-Sat at 8:30 a.m., and the last entry ticket is sold at 4 p.m.

St. Paul's is commemorating the 200th anniversary of the death of Joseph Haydn with a series of July 2009 orchestral Eucharists. On Sunday, July 12, at 11 a.m., Haydn's Lord Nelson Mass will be performed by St. Paul's Cathedral Choir and the City of London Sinfonia. Admission is free. Following the orchestral Eucharist is an Evensong at 3:15 p.m., a free organ recital at 4:45 p.m. (Timothy Wakerell, Sub-Organist of St Paul's; music of Bach and Reger), and an evening service at 6:00 p.m.

Jeremiah Clarke, whose Trumpet Voluntary accompanies countless wedding processions, was appointed organist here in 1699.

Grinling Gibbons, master wood carver to King George I, was employed by Sir Christopher Wren to work on St Paul's Cathedral. His choir stalls in St Paul’s are living testaments to this master craftsman of the woodcarver’s art.


There is both a café and full restaurant located in the lower level of the cathedral.

In the photo below, details of the West Front and one of the towers added by Wren in 1707, when he was 75 years old.




Garth Edmunson’s TOCCATA ON VOM HIMMEL HOCH performed by organist Andrew Lucas, with a superb slide show of the interors of St Paul’s Cathedral (warning: the ending is wicked loud and powerful).



And from the 2002 Golden Jubilee Service for Queen Elizabeth II, whose coronation was in 1952. The boy’s choir performs John Rutter’s FOR THE BEAUTY OF THE EARTH.

Temple Bar - London

Temple Bar was originally built in 1672 and was once the entrance to the City of London at the eastern limit of the City of Westminster, where today’s Strand meets Fleet Street. This gateway, literally a "bar" in the sense of a barrier, has moved a few times but is now next to St. Paul's Cathedral in Paternoster Square.

Sir Christopher Wren was the architect entrusted with designing a stone replacement for the wooden barrier that was lost in the Great Fire of 1666. It was later dismantled and removed from the city in 1878 (given away, actually, to Sir Henry Meux, who reassembled it in his private park near Waltham Cross). Curiously, it was purchased by the Temple Bar Trust from the Meux Trust for £1 in 1984. In 2003 Temple Bar was carefully dismantled yet again and transported back to London on 500 pallets and re-erected as an entrance to Paternoster Square just to the north of St Paul's Cathedral. It opened to the public the following year.

Note: When the sovereign left the City of Westminster and headed for St. Paul's Cathedral in the City of London, it was necessary to stop the procession and ask permission of the Lord Mayor to enter London proper.

July 7 Memorial - London's Hyde Park

Britain marked the fourth anniversary of suicide bombings on London's transport system by unveiling a monument today (July 7, 2009) made up of 52 stainless steel pillars to commemorate each of the victims. Survivors and relatives of the victims paid tribute at the monument in the southeast corner of Hyde Park, built to honor those killed when bombs ripped through three London underground trains and a bus on July 7, 2005.

Prince Charles was joined by Prime Minister Gordon Brown, London Mayor Boris Johnson and a host of other dignitaries who witnessed the unveiling of the monument. Names of the victims were read out and a minute's silence observed.

Architects Carmody Groarke said the 52 columns were grouped to represent the locations of the bombings in Tavistock Square, Edgware Road, Kings Cross and Aldgate, and families of victims were involved in choosing the design and location of the monument. 700 people were injured in the suicide attacks, which were carried out by radical Muslims in protest of England’s involvement in the Iraq war.

St Mary-le-Bow - London

St. Mary-le-Bow's churchyard contains a statue of Captain John Smith, a parishioner who died in London 1631. Smith rose to become Governor of Virginia and Admiral of New England; he was saved from death by Pocahontas. This area of London was the center of the boot-making and leather trades, and Smith's earlier career was as a leather craftsman.

Tradition says that a true “Cockney” must be born within earshot of the sound of the church's bells, used to signal the city’s 9 p.m. curfew, which also marked the end of the work day for an apprentice. This practice continued until 1876. A recording of the Bow Bells made in 1926 has been used by the BBC World Service as an interval signal for the English language broadcasts since the early 1940s. It is still used today preceding some English broadcasts.

The current building was designed by Christopher Wren after the Great Fire of London claimed the previous church in 1666. John Milton was born on Bread Street, which borders the west edge of the churchyard (plaque on wall of church).

St Mary-le-Bow has no parishioners and no Sunday services: its role today is to minister to the financial industry and livery companies of the City of London with weekday services.

In 1914, a stone from the crypt of St Mary-le-Bow church was placed in Trinity Church Wall Street, New York City, in commemoration of the fact that King William III (1650-1702) granted the vestry of Trinity Church the same privileges as St Mary-le-Bow.

Gordon’s Wine Bar - ghosts of Pepys & Kipling

47 Villiers Street, Charing Cross
Between Charing Cross underground station and the Thames
Open Mon-Sat 11:00a to 11:00p; Sun Noon-10:00p

Gordon’s is reported to be London’s oldest wine bar. Duck into the darkened cellar, lit only by candles in old wine bottles, and you step back to (rather shabby) Victorian times. The bar offers a wide selection of wines from around the world, both by the glass and bottle. It also offers port and sherry decanted from barrels above the bar. In fact, wine is the only beverage served here – no beer or spirits.

The building dates back to the 1680s and was once the house of diarist Samuel Pepys (1660-1703). Later Rudyard Kipling moved into one of the apartments upstairs (before the establishment of the wine bar in 1890, it served as the house’s cellar). Kipling wrote “The Light that Failed” in the parlor above the cellar bar (an appropriate title, given the lack of light). Down the flight of creaky stairs one comes to a counter offering a variety of fresh salads, patés, cheeses, pickles and mustards, all served up with long French baguettes. Then it’s off to find a table in the warren of booths in the wine bar. It’s dark and dank down there, but that’s entirely the point.

Westminster Cathedral and Brompton Oratory

Westminster Cathedral's Byzantine Wonders

Two of the most renowned Catholic churches in London are the magnificent Westminster Cathedral and the London Oratory (more popularly known as the Brompton Oratory). The architecture of Westminster Cathedral (completed in 1903 and not to be confused with the nearby Westminster Abbey) makes it distinct from other London landmarks, because of its Byzantine style of the eastern Roman Empire, rather than the familiar Gothic style of England’s native cathedrals. The interior boasts magnificent mosaics.


Westminster Cathedral, located in the City of Westminster (London), is the mother church of the Roman Catholic community of England and Wales. As such, it is the largest Catholic church in England. The dominating external feature is the great campanile, known as St. Edward’s Tower, 284-ft high to the top of cross (photo at beginning of this post).

Brompton Oratory

The famous London “Brompton” Oratory (completed in 1884 in Italian Renaissance style; photo above) is the second largest Catholic Church in London. Every Sunday, more than 3,000 people worship in this enormous church, including the rich and famous. Dedicated to St Philip Neri, it is located in west London adjacent to the Victoria and Albert Museum.

Additional views of Brompton Oratory:

Despite much historical conflict, the tensions that existed between Protestants and Catholics have largely been eradicated in London. Nevertheless, the law still states that the Monarch cannot marry a Catholic. According to the Act of Settlement, those in the line of succession who marry Roman Catholics automatically forfeit their place in the line. When Peter Philips, the Queen's oldest grandchild and son of Princess Anne, became engaged to his Roman Catholic fiancée, she converted to Church of England so that he did not forfeit his place of 11th in line to the throne.

St James Park - London

Buckingham Palace and the Queen Victoria Monument seen from St James Park:

St James Park is the oldest Royal Park in London and is surrounded by three palaces; the most ancient is Westminster Palace (which now houses Parliament) to the southeast, St James's Palace to the north, and Buckingham Palace to the west.

The 58-acre park was once a marshy meadow. In the thirteenth century a leper hospital was founded, and it is from this hospital that the Park took its name. In 1532 Henry VIII acquired the site as yet another deer park and built the Palace of St James's. When Elizabeth I came to the throne she indulged her love of pageantry and pomp, and fêtes of all kinds were held in the park. Her successor, James I, improved the drainage and controlled the water supply. A road was created in front of St James's Palace, approximately where the Mall is today, but it was Charles II who made dramatic changes. The Park was redesigned around a lake with avenues of trees and broad sweeps of lawn. The King opened the park to the public and was a frequent visitor, feeding the ducks and mingling with his subjects. Today’s visitors can watch the wildlife officers feeding the pelicans every day at 2:30 pm.

During the Hanoverian period, Horse Guards Parade was created by filling in one end of the long canal. It was used first as a mustering ground and later for parades. Horse Guards Parade is still part of St James's Park. The Park changed forever when John Nash redesigned it in a more romantic style. The canal was transformed into a natural-looking lake and in 1837 the Ornithological Society of London presented some birds to the Park and erected a cottage for a birdkeeper. Both the cottage and the position of birdkeeper remain to this day (Birdcage Walk is the name of the street that borders the park on the south).


Clarence House, part of the St James Palace complex facing the Park along the Mall, was designed for the Duke of Clarence, later to become William IV; it was also the home of the late Queen Elizabeth, The Queen Mother, until her death in 2002. Today Clarence House is the home of Prince Charles, Princes William and Harry, and Camilla what’s-her-name (photo below).


The Inn on the Park restaurant is in the northeast quadrant of the park, north of the lake. It is housed in a turf-roofed building designed by noted architect Michael Hopkins and managed by culinary wizard Oliver Peyton. As well, coffee, ice creams, sandwiches and snacks are available at four refreshment points throughout the park.

The park is open from 5:00 am to midnight all year round. Picnics are encouraged, and open alcohol is allowed. Note that the Mall (bordering the park to the north) is closed to vehicular traffic on Sundays.

Coming event:
Sunday, 12 July 2009; 3:00-4:20pm and 5:00-6.15pm
Thundersley Brass Band
St. James's Park Band Stand is located between the Marlborough Gate entrance (at the Mall) and the Blue Bridge that bisects the lake.

Click map to enlarge:

Trafalgar Square

The very hub of London, this is Britain's most famous square and the scene of many political protests. A 144-ft. tall column surmounted by a statue of Horatio Nelson (1758-1805) dominates the square, which is named after the Battle of Trafalgar (1805), a triumph by Admiral Lord Nelson, who died at the moment of victory; the supremacy of England’s navy was proved (Britannia rules the waves!), when the French and Spanish sacrificed twenty-two ships, without a single British vessel being lost.

As you walk around this square, note that most of the fabled and ferocious dive-bombing pigeons are gone, since it’s now illegal to feed them. Recent improvements include pedestrianizing the southern portion of the square. Still here, however, are the enormous bronze lions guarding the column and the twin clover-shaped pools and fountains.

This is the heart of London where thousands amass on New Year's Eve to ring in another year. Stairs to the National Gallery, one of the world’s great art museums, lead up from the northern side of the square, and just to the east is the significant St-Martin-in-the-Fields church.

This 1903 engraving shows the National Gallery on the left and St-Martin-in-the-Fields church on the right.

Note: All distances to and from London are measured from Charing Cross, adjacent to Trafalgar Square.

Picadilly Circus

What Times Square is to New York, Piccadilly Circus is to London. Dating from 1819, the circus sports the statue of Anteros (the twin brother of Eros) by Alfred Gilbert, erected in 1893 in memory of the Victorian philanthropist, Lord Shaftesbury. Today, however, the statue is commonly regarded as depicting Eros, the Greek god of love. That symbol of love is about the only thing that occasionally brings together the diverse group of people who converge on the circus. This is the traffic hub of London, and you're at the doorway to "theaterland" if you'd like to cap your visit to the West End with a live theater experience.

Notes:
In this context a circus, from the Latin word meaning a circle, is a circular open space at a street junction. Picadilly Circus lies within the City of Westminster.
Piccadillies were collars sold by a merchant whose establishment was on this avenue when it was called Portugal Street; the name change took place in 1743.
When the statue was first unveiled, many objected to the depiction of a naked male youth as too sensual, so the name was changed to Angel of Christian Charity; however, the name change didn't stick.
The phrase "it's like Piccadilly Circus" is commonly used in the UK to refer to a place or situation which is extremely busy with people.

St. Margaret's Church (Westminster)

Sir Winston Churchill was married here, John Milton was a parishioner, and Sir Walter Raleigh (most of him) is buried here. The Anglican church of St. Margaret, Westminster, is situated in the grounds of Westminster Abbey on Parliament Square, and is the parish church of the Houses of Parliament in London.

Originally founded in the 12th century by Benedictine monks, so that local people who lived in the area around the Abbey could worship separately at their own simpler parish church, St. Margaret's was rebuilt from 1486 to 1523. It became the parish of the Palace of Westminster in 1614, when the Puritans of the 17th century, unhappy with the highly liturgical Abbey, chose to hold Parliamentary services in the more "suitable" St. Margaret's, a practice that has since continued.

Notable features include the Eastern window of 1509 of Flemish stained glass, created to remember the engagement of Catherine of Aragon to Prince Arthur, elder brother of Henry VIII. Other windows commemorate William Caxton (d. 1491, Britain's first printer), who is buried here, Sir Walter Raleigh (all but his head buried in the church in 1618), and the poet John Milton, a parishioner of the church.

Note: Sir Walter Raleigh's body was buried at St. Margaret's after his execution, but his embalmed head was kept by his wife, Elizabeth Throgmorton. She kept it in a red leather bag, by her side, for the last 29 years of her life. Their son Carew took care of it until his own death in 1666. Carew was buried in his father's grave with the head, but in 1680 Carew was exhumed and re-buried, along with his father's head, in West Horsley, Surrey. Way more than you wanted to know.

The church continues to be a popular venue for "society" weddings.

Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese

This pub, mentioned in Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities, was already well known in the 17th century, but other pubs had previously occupied this address (one of them, the Horn Tavern, was recorded in 1538). The earliest incarnation of this site was a guest house belonging to a 13th century Carmelite Monastery; the pub's extant vaulted cellars are thought to belong to that building. However, the pub was destroyed in the Great Fire of 1666 and rebuilt the following year, giving us the building we enter today.

Approached through a narrow alleyway (Wine Office Court off Fleet St., east of the Temple Church), the “Cheese” boasts an entrance board listing the reigns of the 15 monarchs through which this grand old pub has survived. The dark wooden interior is a warren of narrow corridors and staircases, leading to numerous bars and dining rooms. There are so many, even regulars get confused.

A portrait of one of the Cheese's most famous patrons, Dr. Samuel Johnson (his house is around the corner) hangs on a far wall, and his chair is set upon a shelf. A copy of Johnson's dictionary is nearby. Another painting of Johnson and his biographer, Boswell, was found in a cellar relatively recently and restored. Other distinguished patrons were Goldsmith, Dickens, Pope, Conan Doyle, Mark Twain, Voltaire and Thackeray.

One famous mascot was a parrot who's mimicry entertained customers for 40 years; the bird’s death in 1926 was announced on the BBC, and obituaries appeared in newspapers all over the world. I’m not making this up.

Millennium Bridge - London

The Millennium Bridge is a pedestrian-only steel suspension bridge across the Thames connecting the Tate Modern Gallery and St. Paul's Cathedral. Construction began in 1998, and the bridge was opened in June 2000. The design of the bridge was the result of a competition organized in 1996 by Southwark council. The winning entry was an innovative "blade of light" effort from Arup, Foster and Partners and Sir Anthony Caro.

Londoners nicknamed the bridge the "wobbly bridge" after crowds of pedestrians felt an unexpected swaying motion on the first two days after the bridge opened. The bridge was closed and modified, and further modifications eliminated the wobble entirely.

The southern end of the bridge is near Globe Theatre, the Bankside Gallery and Tate Modern, the north end next to the City of London School below St Paul's Cathedral. The bridge alignment is such that a clear view of St Paul's south facade is presented from across the river, framed by the bridge supports, thus providing a scenic view of the cathedral. Perhaps the best view of the bridge itself is from a restaurant inside the Tate Modern.

Covent Garden - London

The Royal Opera House is adjacent to the Piazza outside Covent Garden market. This opera house is often referred to as simply "Covent Garden." The present structure dates from 1858 and is the third building on the site. The original structure (1732) is where many of Handel's oratorios and operas were premiered.

Covent Garden Market and the adjoining Piazza, one of London's premier tourist attractions, is famous for its past as well as the current transformation into a showcase for a vibrant, modern London with attendant street performers, restaurants, shopping and entertainment venues. The market and Royal Opera House were memorably brought together in the opening of George Bernard Shaw's play, Pygmalion, where Professor Henry Higgins is waiting for a cab to take him home from the opera; he then comes across Eliza Doolittle selling flowers in the Covent Garden market. With My Fair Lady we have music to go along with the story.

The older generation of Londoners still remembers Covent Garden as the largest fruit and vegetable market in England. But its history goes all the way back to the early 13th century when "Convent Garden" (covent was the Middle English form of the modern word convent) referred to a 40-acre plot in the county of Middlesex, bordered west and east by what is now St. Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. In this quadrangle the Convent of St. Peter, Westminster, maintained a large kitchen garden throughout the Middle Ages to provide its daily food. Over the next three centuries, the monks' old "convent garden" became a major source of fruit and vegetables in London and was managed by a succession of leaseholders by grant from the Abbot of Westminster. This type of lease eventually led to property disputes throughout the kingdom, which Henry VIII solved in 1540 by the stroke of a pen, when he dissolved the monasteries and appropriated their land. In the 1630s on this land formerly belonging to Westminster Abbey, the “Convent Garden” was developed by the 4th Earl of Bedford as an experiment in Italian-style town planning, resulting in the first public square in the country.

Inigo Jones, the most important English architect of the 17th century, was commissioned by the Earl of Bedford to design the Piazza; Jones lined the square with with arcaded houses. It is thus one of the oldest squares in London. His distinctive St. Paul's Church (1638, and not to be confused with St. Paul's Cathedral) with two square and two round columns and a false center door (the true entry door is round in the back) is the only one of the original Jones buildings still standing on the Piazza. The square end columns are arcaded. Curiously, the facade that faces the Piazza is stone, while the rest of the church is red brick. It is commonly called the Actors' Church, due to its proximity to several important theatres; there are memorials to Noel Coward, Vivien Leigh, Ivor Novello and Boris Karloff.


The fruit and vegetable market in the square began in a small way in 1649, but by 1760 occupied much of the piazza. The main iron market building in the Piazza we see today was erected in 1830 by Charles Fowler. By the 1940s it was evident that the country's principal fruit and vegetable market could not remain in this very congested part of London. It was eventually relocated to Nine Elms in 1973, leaving empty market buildings and numerous vacant premises in the surrounding area.

A vigorous campaign by local residents defeated the planner’s intentions to knock down most of the buildings, and instead the Market was renovated to become the popular shopping centre and mecca for arts, crafts and theatre that it is today.

Houses of Parliament

The Palace of Westminster, also known as the Houses of Parliament, is a complex of buildings on the north bank of the river Thames in London. It was used as a royal residence from 1065 until Henry VIII moved out following a fire in 1512. Although it is the seat of the two houses of the Parliament of the United Kingdom (House of Lords and House of Commons), it maintains its status as a royal palace. The structure contains around 1,100 rooms, 100 staircases and 2 miles of corridors. Although the building mainly dates from the 19th century, remaining elements of the original historic buildings include Westminster Hall (used today for major public ceremonial events such as lyings in state), and the Jewel Tower across the street, now a museum for relics of the old palace and an exhibition of Parliament's history with a video. After a disastrous fire in 1834, the present Houses of Parliament complex was built in neo-late-Gothic style over a 30-year period. The House of Lords chamber contains the sovereign's throne (shown in photo):

Big Ben is the name of the great 14-ton cast bell that sits inside the four-faced tower clock situated beside the Houses of Parliament. But these days the term "Big Ben" is used to refer to the clock, the 320-ft. tall tower and the bell collectively. Note: When Parliament is in session, there is a light above the clock.

Westminster Abbey

Westminster Abbey, the oldest parts dating from the year 1050, is officially named the Collegiate Church of St. Peter at Westminster. It stands adjacent to the Palace of Westminster and the Houses of Parliament. In this Gothic edifice the kings and queens of England have been crowned (and buried) since William the Conqueror in 1066. Westminster Abbey is also a Royal Peculiar, a place of worship that falls directly under the jurisdiction of the British monarch, rather than a diocese.

Until the 19th century, Westminster was the third seat of learning in England, after Oxford and Cambridge. It was here that the first third of the King James Bible Old Testament and the last half of the New Testament were translated in the early 1600s.

Henry VII Lady’s Chapel, a riot of flamboyant Gothic style dating from 1503, is the mother church of the Order of Bath. Banners of the members add colorful, festive adornment as the eye moves upward to glimpse the astonishing tracery stone ceiling (shown above).


Westminster Abbey's main nave is remarkably narrow at just 35 feet wide (photo above). The ceiling, however, at more than 100 feet high, is the tallest in England.

St. Edward's Chair (shown above), the throne on which British sovereigns are seated at the moment of coronation, is housed within the Abbey and has been used at every coronation since 1308; from 1301 to 1996 (except for a short time in 1950 when it was temporarily stolen by Scottish nationalists), the chair also housed the Stone of Scone upon which the kings of Scotland are crowned, but pending another coronation, the Stone is now kept in Scotland.

Geoffrey Chaucer and other writers are buried and memorialized in Poets' Corner. These include William Blake, Robert Burns, Lord Byron, Charles Dickens, John Dryden, George Eliot, T. S. Eliot, John Keats, Rudyard Kipling, John Milton, Laurence Olivier, Alexander Pope, Percy Bysshe Shelley, William Shakespeare, Alfred Lord Tennyson and William Wordsworth (for starters).

Musicians get their proper enshrinement, too. Henry Purcell served as abbey organist from 1679, Orlando Gibbons from 1623, John Blow from 1668, and William Croft from 1708.


The Great West Door and Towers (below):

The British Museum

The British Museum is a museum of human history and culture situated in central London, immediately south of Russell Square. Its collections, which number more than seven million objects, are among the largest and most comprehensive in the world and originate from all continents, illustrating and documenting the story of human culture from its beginning to the present. Among its greatest treasures are the Elgin Marbles, fragments from the frieze that adorned the Acropolis in Athens (Greece very much wants them back, and the brand new Acropolis Museum that opened this month in Athens reopens the controversy). The British Museum was established in 1753, largely based on the collections of the physician and scientist Sir Hans Sloane. The museum first opened to the public on January 15, 1759. Admission is free.

Among its greatest ancient holdings is the Rosetta Stone, crafted in 196 BC and rediscovered at Rosetta (the Egyptian port city of Rashid) by Napoleon’s army. This astounding find subsequently contributed to the deciphering of the principles of hieroglyph writing. Comparative translation of the three languages (including Classical Greek) chiseled onto the stone assisted in understanding many previously undecipherable examples of hieroglyphics. The text on the stone is a decree from Egypt’s King Ptolemy V, describing the repealing of various taxes and instructions to erect statues in temples.


The Rosetta stone is about four feet tall and two feet wide and has been displayed in the British Museum since 1802, three years after its discovery by the French in 1799. In July 2003, Egypt demanded the return of the Rosetta Stone. The secretary general of the Supreme Council of Antiquities in Cairo, told the press: "If the British want to be remembered, if they want to restore their reputation, they should volunteer to return the Rosetta Stone, because it is the icon of our Egyptian identity." In 2005, the secretary general was negotiating for a three-month loan, with the eventual goal of a permanent return; in November 2005, the British Museum responded by sending him a replica of the stone. No further negotiations have since taken place.