On entering at the great western door between the towers, the magnificence of the abbey soon becomes apparent. The interior displays grand masses of marble columns separating the nave from the side aisles. A screen, surmounted by a noble organ, divides the nave from the choir; while beyond the eye soars, amid graceful columns, tracery, and decorated windows, to the summit of the eastern arch that overlooks the adjacent chapels. The walls on both sides display a great profusion of sepulchral monuments, among which are some finely executed pieces of sculpture, and touching memorials of those whose exploits or exertions have deserved the notice of posterity; but too many, unfortunately, are in very bad taste. Above the line of tombs are chambers and galleries, once occupied by ecclesiastics; solemn and dreary in their antiquity, though relieved by occasional sunbeams glancing across the misty height of the nave. The northern window is richly ornamented with stained glass.
The Chapel of Edward the Confessor is at the eastern end of the choir, and contains the shrine of St. Edward: that it was an exquisite piece of workmanship, is evident even in its decay. Here also is the coronation-chair, under which is placed the celebrated stone brought from Scone, in Scotland, by Edward I. in 1297. The Chapel of Henry VII. is also at the eastern end; and among the ashes of many royal personages interred here are those of Mary and Elizabeth. The ascent to this splendid work of Gothic art is by steps of black marble. The entrance gates display workmanship of extraordinary richness in brass. The effect produced on entering this chapel is striking: the roof is wrought in stone into an astonishing variety of figures and devices; the stalls are of oak, having the deep tone of age, with Gothic canopies, all elaborately carved. Here, before the remodelling of the order, used to be installed the knights of the Order of the Bath. In their stalls are placed brass plates of their armorial insignia, and above are suspended their banners, swords, and helmets; beneath the stalls are seats for the esquires. The pavement is composed of black and white marble; beneath which is the royal vault. The magnificent tomb of Henry VII. and his queen stands in the body of this chapel, in a curious chantry of cast brass, admirably executed, and interspersed with effigies, armorial bearings, and devices relating to the union of the red and white roses.
The number of statues and monuments in Westminster Abbey is very great. Most of them are contained in side-chapels, of which there are several: viz., St. Benedict’s, St. Edmund’s, St. Nicholas’s, St. Paul’s, St. Erasmus’s, John the Baptist’s, and Bishop Islip’s; besides Henry VII.’s and Edward the Confessor’s Chapels, already mentioned. These Chapels contain about ninety monuments and shrines, some of great beauty. The Choir, the Transept, and the Nave, also contain a large amount of sculpture—many specimens in wretched taste, by the side of some of the first works of Flaxman, Chantrey, Roubiliac, Nollekins, Bacon, Westmacott, Gibson, Behnes, and others. Poets’ Corner, occupying about half of the south transept, is a famous place for the busts and monuments of eminent men—including Chaucer, Spencer, Shakespeare, Drayton, Ben Jonson, Milton, Butler, Davenant, Cowley, Dryden, Prior, Rowe, Gay, Addison, Thomson, Goldsmith, Gray, Mason, Sheridan, Southey, Campbell, &c. Lord Macaulay and Lord Palmerston were recently buried in the Abbey—the one in January, 1860; the other in October, 1865. William Makepeace Thackeray does not lie there, but at Kensal Green, though his bust is placed next to the statue of Joseph Addison. On the 14th June, 1870, Charles Dickens was interred there. His grave is situated at the foot of the coffin of Handel, and at the head of the coffin of R. B. Sheridan, and between the coffins of Lord Macaulay and Cumberland the dramatist. Near to England’s great humorist, towards his feet, lie Dr. Johnson and Garrick, while near them lies Thomas Campbell. Shakespeare’s monument is not far from the foot of the grave. Goldsmith’s is on the left. A monumental brass, to the memory of Robert Stephenson, has recently been inlaid in the floor of the nave. The Cloisters and the Chapter House contain some curious old effigies.
Westminster Abbey is a collegiate church, with a dean and chapter, who possess a considerable authority over the adjoining district, and a revenue of about £30,000 per annum. The abbey may be considered as sub-divided into chapels; but in the present day divine service (at 7.45,10, and 3) is performed only in a large enclosed space near the eastern extremity of the building—except on Sunday evenings during a portion of the year, when service is performed in the nave, in a similar way to the Sunday evening services under the dome of St. Paul’s. This evening service, at 7 o’clock, is very striking in effect. There are usually a considerable number of strangers present at the services, particularly at that on Sunday evenings. The entrance chiefly used is that at Poets’ Corner, nearly opposite the royal entrance to the Houses of Parliament; but on Sunday evenings the great western entrance is used. There is admittance every week-day free to the chief parts of the building, and to other parts on payment of a fee of 6d.
Parish and District Churches.—When we consider that the metropolis contains nearly 1000 churches and chapels, it may well be conceived that only a few of them can be noticed here. In addition to St. Paul’s and the Abbey, the following are worth the notice of strangers. St. Michael’s, Cornhill, has lately been restored and re-decorated in an elaborate manner by Mr. Gilbert Scott. St. Bartholomew’s, Smithfield, which has been lately restored, was once the choir and transepts of a priory church; it is interesting, not only for some of its monuments, but for the varieties of Norman and Gothic styles which it exhibits. St. Stephen’s, Walbrook, close to the Mansion House, is especially worthy of attention; as the interior is considered to be one of Wren’s happiest conceptions. Bow Church, or the Church of St. Mary-le-Bow, occupies a conspicuous position on the south side of Cheapside, and has a spire of great elegance, designed by Sir Christopher Wren. The clock projects over the street from the lower part of the tower. Standing as this church does, in the centre of the city, those who are born within the sound of its bells are jocularly called Cockneys, a name equivalent to genuine citizens.
It is worthy of note, that Sir Christopher Wren built the large number of fifty-three churches in London after the Great Fire. Nearly all of them are still standing. Among the most noted are St. Paul’s; Bow Church; St. Stephen’s, Walbrook; St. Bride’s; St. Andrew’s, Holborn; St. Sepulchre’s; St. Antholin’s, Watling Street; Christ Church, Newgate; St. Clement Danes; St. Dunstan’s-in-the-East; St. James’s, Piccadilly; St. Lawrence, Jewry; St. Magnus, London Bridge; St. Martin’s, Ludgate; and St. Mary, Aldermanbury.
Among churches and chapels of the Establishment, of more recent date, the following are worth looking at:—New St. Pancras, near the Euston Railway Station, is the most notable example in London of an imitative Greek temple; it was built by Messrs. Inwood, in 1822, and cost nearly £80,000. St. Marylebone, in the Marylebone Road, built by Mr. Hardwick in 1817, cost £60,000; the interior is heavy in appearance, having two tiers of galleries; in few London churches, however, is divine service, according to the established ritual, performed on a more impressive scale. St. Stephen’s, Westminster, in Rochester Row, was built wholly at the expense of Miss Burdett Coutts, and is a fine example of revived Gothic; the choral service on Sundays is grand and complete. St. Paul’s, at Knightsbridge, and St. Barnabas, at Pimlico, especially the latter, are noticeable for the mediæval revivals, in arrangements and in service, which belong to what is called the high-church party. All Saints’ Church, Margaret Street, is, perhaps, the most sumptuous of modern London churches. Although small, it cost £60,000. Mr. Butterfield was the architect. The exterior is of red and black brick, very mediæval in appearance. The interior is ornate, with polished granite piers, alabaster capitals, coloured marble decorations, stained-glass windows, and frescoes by Dyce. St. James the Less, in Garden Street, Westminster, is a truly remarkable specimen of coloured-brick architecture, both within and without; Mr. Street was the architect; and the cost was defrayed by the daughters of the late Dr. Monk, Bishop of Gloucester. A very noteworthy and costly brick church has been constructed in Baldwin’s Gardens, Gray’s Inn Lane, from the designs of Mr. Butterfield, and at the sole cost of Mr. J. G. Hubbard. It is dedicated to St. Alban. The Rev. A. Mackonochie, whose extreme ritualistic views have several times brought his name prominently before the public, was the incumbent.