"The Abbey with Alan Bennett" (1995) Westminster Abbey Documentary
Westminister Abbey
●A Royal Peculiar: Alan Bennett offers a thorough tour of the Abbey. Bennett watches the early morning rituals of the "Abbey family," the people who tune the organ, dust the statues, deliver the milk, attend the first service of the day, and provides a general introduction to the layout and history of the place. Later, mingling with the public tours, he visits some of the multitude of graves in the Abbey, including those of Edward the Confessor, Chaucer, Mary, Queen of Scots, and the Tomb of the Unknown Warrior. He cites "the English liking for clubs" in the burial groupings, with architects in one corner, poets in another, and engineers in yet another. Westminster Abbey, as he observes, is "the Queen's Parish Church"–a "royal peculiar," answerable not to the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Church of England, but directly to the British sovereign.
●Whom Would You Like to Be Seen Dead With?: Bennett's saunter through a day in the life of the Abbey continues with visits to those interred in the poet's corner, including Lord Olivier, Lord Byron, the Brontë sisters, and Jane Austen. It is revealed that many notables have had several different resting places—successive kings and queens would often re-arrange them according to their own preferences. Ongoing preservation efforts that maintain the building are examined. Bennett takes viewers high up in the north transept, as the head woodsmith and his crew battle dampness and woodworm within the fabric of the building.
●A Mirror of England: Bennett visits the spot where every British monarch has been crowned since 1066 A.D. Bennett observes the Abbey's quiet evening rituals after the tourists have left – the boys' choir practice, a private tour given by the dean, and compline, the last service of the day. Bennett explores the ceremonial role of the Abbey within the Anglican Church, the room where the King James Version of the Bible was translated, and some of the many sculptures that decorate the Abbey's tombs. He presents a rare view of the 13th-century "Great Pavement" (the "Cosmati pavement"), the beautiful mosaic flooring, usually covered, on which the Chair of State (King Edward's Chair) stands at the Coronation. We learn that half of the Abbey day is spent preparing for Evensong, its main, daily service. Awaiting their moment, the Abbey's lay vicars play darts upstairs while the choristers practice their singing. Then, we find ourselves alone with Bennett in the dead of night pondering the observation made by 19th-century Dean Stanley, that Westminster Abbey is a "mirror of England." He concludes, "If we reflect that this unique place and its contents are what remains when greed, theft, violence, and occasional vindictiveness have done their work, but mitigated by an obstinate tradition of charity, tolerance, and magnanimity, then perhaps it is...or one may hope that it is...indeed a mirror of England."
-
20:43
NC Dirt Hunter
11 hours agoMetal Detecting For Dinosaurs On Civil War Battlefield With The Dinosaur Cowboy Clayton Phipps Pt. 2
958 -
25:34
CarlCrusher
6 hours agoSecret Symbols of Skinwalker Ranch Territory - Part 7
1.24K5 -
1:04:47
The Bitcoin Family
20 hours agoBITCOIN SUNDAY LIVE AMA DIDI TAIHUTTU
1.59K3 -
LIVE
Akademiks
6 hours agoDrake vs Kendrick Lamar. Who winning currently. Family Matters vs Not Like Us. Drake on Clock?
7,958 watching -
LIVE
SNEAKO
5 hours agoTHERE'S A LOT TO DISCUSS...
5,982 watching -
59:42
The Late Kick with Josh Pate
11 hours agoLate Kick Live Ep 510: Bold Prediction Season | FSU vs Miami | G5 Perception vs Reality | A&M Future
25.4K5 -
2:02:18
vivafrei
17 hours agoEp. 209: Trump Trial; Ole Miss; Pennsylvania Farmers; Owen Shroyer; Whitmer & MORE!
132K196 -
1:27:31
RealitySurvival
6 hours agoPrepper SITREP: With Ethical Preparedness
48.1K5 -
3:40:49
XrayGirl
13 hours agoGTFO | Sunday Funday with Kara Lynne, QBG and HeelvsBabyface
50.8K7 -
2:16:20
George Galloway
2 days agoTHE FINAL COUNTDOWN - MOATS with George Galloway Ep 340
88.4K169