Westminster Abbey

[bobtheturkey]

was having a nosey round it the other day and got to thinking


the names of dead people on the floor are their remains underneath or in the walls or what?


is there a secret underground chamber?

[DTCwordfan]

some are or bits of their body stuffed in the walls etc.

[DJHawkes]

originally people were buried within a church, then over the centuries as the church crypts filled up, the remains of the earlier burials were removed to the back of the church and burnt (hence we get the word bonfire from the bonefires) and new burials took their place. The nearer to the altar a person was buried the more important their position in the parish. when the population increased then space inside the church was reserved for the elite and the peasants were buries outside the church, not at first 6 feet under but once it was realised that the local swine herd could dig up bodies the grave diggers worked out that burying 6 feet deep prevented pigs digging up the bodies as they could not get down and out of a 6 foot hole, then someone decided it would be an even better idea to build a wall around the church to create a boundary and keep pigs out, thus a churchyard was created. x

[DJHawkes]

if you have the time Roberto you could check out the various bits of burial info on this site:
http://www.westminster-abbey.org/our-history/royals/burials

[bobtheturkey]

ah your a font of knowledge Dorothy

[DJHawkes]

and I didn't need to google the first answer! I remember going to a lecture back in the early 90s by an ex bishop who spent his retirement doing talks on the family history circuit about traditions of death and burial, it was very interesting, wish I could remember more,

[bookbinder]

In the case of Westminster Abbey, the plaques on the floor are just memorials. The deceased are not actually buried under their plaque. There's one, for example, with Noel Coward's name on it, but he's buried in Jamaica.

[Peter Pedant]

those underground thingeys are called 'vaults' arent they ?

Pigs what about dogs ?
Henry VIII it was predicted by Mad Joan thingey that like Jezebel in Naboth's vineyard, that dogs would eat him,
and whilst he was lying in state at Syon, 1547 I think, the coffin popped and oozed ugh bleuucch stuff which after removal
the dogs came and licked up....

that's my story anyway.....PP

[jno]

William the Conqueror burst too, didn't he? Kings, eh.

[Arthurian]

Some are Buried There, Others Their Heart was removed by a Surgeon & Buried There, [Thomas Hardy] Others Their 'Ashes'.