30 June 2026 Westminster Abbey and Temple Church Part II
First impression today, it was too crowded, and due to the crowds, you just can't see all that you want to see while you are there. Pictures were allowed in most of the Abbey, but not on the second level where the Queen's galleries were. While plodding along like sheep on the floor level, it was nearly impossible to see some of the tombs to the Kings of England, because they were too high to see except for the bases of the tombs. Here's a couple of examples:
Tomb of Edward I "Longshanks" "Hammer of the Scots" at Westminster Abbey. His tomb is really quite plain. I overheard a Tour guide saying that he wanted to be buried in the Holy Lands like a Crusader, but he never went, so the tomb isn't as elaborate as some of the others. His wife. Eleanor of Castile, is buried to the left of his tomb. I blogged about her earlier, that she was actually buried in three different places. The first was her entrails, that were buried in her tomb at Lincoln Cathedral. The second burial was her heart, at Greyfriars in London. The third burial was her body, at Westminster Abbey." This is the second place that I visited where she is buried.
Second tomb of Eleanor of Castile at Westminster Abbey .
When I visited the Queen's galleries, and stood looking down, I had a much better view of the tombs that I wanted to get pictures of. The only problem, is that I wasn't allowed to take pictures of them from the galleries. I was pretty frustrated. This is the second location that I have been to in London where you couldn't take pictures, and the excuse was for insurance purposes. That's B.S. Another reason they gave was that the floors next to the tombs were in such rough shape, that they couldn't be walked upon. Well, from the galleries, I could see employees walking where I couldn't, as well as chairs set up for multiple people to attend meetings, so again, that's B.S. too. My impression, from 35 years after my first visit, was a lot different.
I do understand that with the sheer volume of visitors that they are having, it would be unmanageable to allow access to all of the parts of the Abbey, but it is still disappointing. I do remember having much greater access to see what I wanted to see in 1991, but times change. So do opinions.
Like I said earlier, there was so much information and things to see, that it will take a very long time for me to decipher the pictures I took, and determine which of my ancestors are where. I purchased a book entitled The Monuments of Westminster Abbey which is 200 pages of information, but it doesn't have many pictures to go with the verbiage, so I'll have to wait until I get home to use it properly. It did have a very extensive bibliography, so I will have to consult further resources to get the answers to my questions, but too much for now.
I did find the tomb of George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham, and his wife, Catherine Manners. Unfortunately, I was looking for his dad, also named George Villiers, but sometimes that happens. I did not find the tomb of Eleanor de Bohun either, but with information taken from the book I mentioned earlier, I have deduced that the burial is either a different person, or the Eleanor in my database had her burial place erroneously annotated as Westminster Abbey, because she died 31 years before the other Eleanor de Bohun. Sometimes you discover something good, and other times you rectify previous errors.
After Westminster Abbey, I had enough time to run back over to Temple Church and see what I missed on Saturday. It was open, and I am very glad I went back. I found all three of my ancestors' effigies there, and the statue of a fourth ancestors as well.
William Marshall has been described as "the Greatest Knight that ever lived" by the Archbishop of Canterbury at Marshall's Funeral. He, along with Geoffrey de Mandeville, and Robert de Ros I, are all buried there, and two of the three have their own effigies, although I suspect the de Ros effigy is Robert, and not a different family member.
This church , as blogged about before, was dedicated to the Knights Templar, and many of their Knights and supporters are buried here. They even cast memorials of King John and Henry III (father and son), two kings of England buried elsewhere, but key figures in the Magna Carta development.
Two of the Knights/Nobles depicted here were also Magna Carta surety Barons, and I am related to both. Sir Saer de Quincy and Sir Geoffrey de Mandeville had their own statues lent by the Victorian and Albert Museum.
That pretty much wraps up this years trip to England, and my blogs. I will continue to add new things as I discover them once back home, and hopefully do a lessons learned to help me on future trips. Next on the plate will probably be Southern Scotland and Northern England in a couple of years. Until then, here's a few pictures from today.
