Westminster Abbey
Westminster Abbey can be found across the road from the Houses of Parliament, they are both incredibly large and beautiful buildings. It cost me a wopping 16 pounds just to get into Westminster Abbey and when I discovered I wasn't even allowed to take photos I was pretty agitated. It would have cost me an extra 3 pounds 50 to get an audioguide. I understand the costs that must be involved keeping the building and interior in good condition but I was really quite pissed off so I didn't get an audioguide.
After making a dash to the loo, I took my time to look around and slowly all was forgiven as I stood in wonder at the many nooks and crannies and vast amount sculptures. When I got to Poet's Corner, a corner of the Abbey full of dedications and memorials to Britain's most celebrated Poets and Writers, I took my time and sat down to have a proper good look. The oldest part of Poet's Corner is Geoffrey Chaucer's actual tomb who was mainly known for his Canterbury Tales. One of the most noticable though (and the reason why I had payed the steep 16 pounds) was the memorial to William Shakespeare. His plaque was set into the centre of the wall with the other memorials dotted around it. These were eclipsed by the magnificance of the life-sized standing sculpture of the great man himself. I did a quick biro sketch of his face, doing as well as I could in the hustle and bustle of the tourist attraction. Later I found a postcard of the full sculpture which I will post when I'm near the scanner. (At the moment I'm busy tippy typing outside, enjoying the sun, which I'm lucky enough to say, followed me everywhere I went in London.)
When I was ready to move on I contintued to look at the rest of the Abbey which was amazing and I actually found one of the most amazing bits of sculpture I've ever seen right at the end. Unfortunately the postcard of this doesn't really do it justice (this too I will include later) but I got it anyway so I would definitely remember it. It was set inside a niche and on top of a wooden cabinet, the door of which was open. On top of the cabinet was a stone sculpture of a seated man holding his dead wife in one arm. His other arm was outstretched in a warding-off manner towards another figure. This was a robed skelletal figure of death, another stone sculpture only this was one was actually coming out of the cabinet, his robes craftfully wrapping around the open door. I just thought this sculpture was so original and inventive it really struck me and the expression on the man's face was so horrifically perfect. I know this isn't related to Shakespeare but thought I would just quickly include it here as I thought it so amazing.
The Staple Inn
This building was on my list of places to see but had slipped my mind at first. The funny thing was, after I had decided to do Shakespeare's London instead of the Shakespeare and Dickens Walk I went through my Shakespeare to see list again. I came across Staple Inn and quickly looked at the picture on the internet to refresh my memory and realised I had actually already seen it. When I got out of the Tube stop to go and find the Charles Dickens Museum I passed this building, and thought wow how amazing. On the way back to the Tube I took a photo of it. I really thought that was pretty amazing, it didn't just need to be on the list it was a really cool building anyway. The Staple Inn does not have a direct link to Shakespeare. It is on the other hand the only real example of Elizabethan half-timbering left in the centre of London. So although Shakespeare may have never been inside this building, as it was part of the wool trade, he would have known it and many others like it (most of which will have been destroyed in the Great Fire of London in 1666).
Wednesday
The Tour
As I have already described in full detail I passed many Shakespeare locations on this tour. See previous post to read about these.
Friday
Shakespeare's Globe Theatre
This Theatre was rebuilt by the wealthy American Sam Wanamaker. In the 60s he visited London and to his great dissapointment he couldn't find the Globe Theatre anywhere as it simply wasn't there anymore. He then started a more than 20 year battle to get all of the planning permission passed before he was allowed to start building. The Theatre was rebuilt using Tudor building techniques and one of the major difficulties to get the planning permission passed was the thatched straw roof. A ban on thatched roof was put through in the 17th century after the Great Fire, being one of the causes of the fire spreading so quickly. It is now a sight to behold with it's beautiful stitching on the top, a British tradition opposed to the Dutch tiling placed on top. Building started towards the end of the 80s and tragically Mr Wanamaker died three years before completion in the early new millenium. As I've said in my previous post it was amazing to see the theatre and I would very much like to see a production there one day, it must be absolutely amazing as it is one of the few places where they still put on the plays in the origianl costume styles. They also do a lot of them as full male productions obviously keeping to the traditions of the time. As an experiment and for a bit of fun they have also done an all female production. They are this year celebrating Shakespeare by organizing each play to be performed in a different language all over the world. Troilus and Cressida was recently put on in New Zealand in Maori, which a friend of ours happened to see and said was very good. The only thing that is missing from the Globe is that feeling that you get when you know that something of historical significance happened somewhere. It's purely psychological of course but you don't walk in and think wow Shakespeare actually walked these planks, unlike in the Roman Baths in Bath, England where you can practically here the nails in the Roman sandals clinking against the well worn stone flooring. Apart from this very small, and to be honest, unimportant detail, the Globe is amazing. It left me completely inspired, artisically but also by what people can achieve if they fight long and hard for what they want and believe in. I could say so much more about the Globe put I think I might as well start writing a book if I did that so I will stop there.
Southwark Cathedral
Just up the Thames from the Globe is the Southwark Cathedral. The entrance is free but they do ask for you to pay 2 pounds 50 for a ticket to take photos, fair enough. Inside the cathedral are tributes to many different people including William Shakespeare. Built into the wall is a full-sized reclining statue of William Shakespeare.
Above him is a stain-glassed window, based on his comedies and tragedies. I really love stain glassed windows and have so many photos of them so this was a real treat.
Middle Temple Hall
The original interior of this building still all exists, tragically it is not open to the public as I believe it is part of the courtroom buildings. In 1601 Shakepeare's Twelfth Night was performed here and this is where Elizabeth I herself saw it performed. The outside is still a very beautiful building here though, but it was a real shame I couldn't go in. This building is in the Temple district very near the well known Temple Church, a church connected to the Knight's Templar. Unfortunately when I got there they had just closed to the public for a service and wouldn't be opening for another two hours. Ah well it will be there next time.
Saturday
V&A
The Victoria and Albert is an amazing museum holding an array of exhibits on the British History and Culture but also from the rest of the world. On my second visit here (I also went here on Friday) I specifically went to the performance section as I heard there was a certain item there (I'll get back to this later). There were quite a few Shakespearean linked items in this section as well. A skull used in one of the plays, a headdress based on Hamlet, quite a few very beautifully made set designs for the plays (unfortunately none of these photos worked as the lighting was very dim and the glass cases limiting) and to top it off a copy of one of the original First Folio, mentioned earlier in my Shakespeare (and Dickens) Walk post. It's an amazing museum and discovering these artifacts was a great bonus. More on the V&A in my later post "Brief Overview of other things I visited on my trip".
These were the Shakespeare locations I visited. I tried looking for the George Inn and the Mitre Tavern, both places that Shakespeare used to go to, I looked and looked but I just couldn't find them. Ah well, that's life.
TIME COUNT:
Numerous Hours!!! No idea how long as it was so scattered and too much fun to be counting the minutes!!! :D
Geen opmerkingen:
Een reactie posten