London Day 5: Ravens and Reverence

Time to go underground! The kids and Robert had their first experiences riding the London Underground or Tube, as the locals call it. The Tube was exactly how I remembered it from 2 decades ago, clean and efficient. Though it did have some nice modern upgrades! We entered at Westminster and popped out at Tower Hill.

Once out of the subway system we crossed the road and entered The Tower of London. Soon after entering Faywen got very excited when she saw and heard her first raven! The Ravens of Tower Hill are icons of London. Legend tells that 6 black ravens must at all times reside in the Tower of London or else the kingdom will fall! Currently there are 7 ravens that protect the tower and monarchy. They are taken care of very well… actually they’re spoiled! The legendary Beefeaters are appointed by the Queen to watch the birds and they reside in and protect the Tower. While at the Tower we met a Beefeater named Henry who had serviced in the Royal Navy for 22 years and then was appointed for life as a Beefeater at the Tower. He told us there are 3 boys and 4 girls and his favorite two were Poppy and Melinda.

Our first stop within the Tower of London was the building where the Crown Jewels of the United Kingdom are housed. It was lovely seeing all of the stunning scepters, orbs, crowns, ceremonial religious items, and royal robes. The last case contained the crown, which was used at Queen Elizabeth II coronation in 1953. Liam asked the guard in the Crown Room about the massive metal security doors. He was very nice and told Liam a bit about the security, remarking that it’s kept in this state of the art modern vault, but when taken out once a year for the Queen to wear at the opening of Parliament, it’s only carried in a double thick leather box with minimal trained escort!

Across the courtyard from the Crown Jewels exhibition stands the 1000yr. old White Tower. This was the original Tower of London and was commissioned by William the Conqueror. As one gazed up the White Tower’s formidable size was impressive. Not to mention it sparked white in the sunlight! One must ascend a set of wooden stairs in order to reach he main door to the medieval fortress. Upon entering the boys’ mouths dropped opened as a wall of medieval and renaissance “heavy metal” met their eyes! Yes, we were in the armory with all its glorious sets of knight’s armor and weaponry! I distinctly remember the room from 2 decades ago, especially the armor of King Henry VIII and his warhorse! Up the great spiral staircase we found the first chapel built by William the Conqueror in 1068-70, St John’s Chapel. The sunlight streamed in through the stain glass windows into the simple light stone chapel making the whole place dance with rainbows!

Then the tides turned, from angelic harmony of chapel and royal apartments to the seedier darker side of the Tower of London…a place of imprisonment, death, and murder (cue creepy music). However after touring Bloody Tower and Tower Green, we were surprised to find out that most of the Tower’s prisoners were kept there during the 1500’s. This was probably due to the unrest of the Catholic and Protestant upheaval. Here’s one prisoner I didn’t know about… William Penn was imprisoned for three years in the tower before being told to leave the country. He did so and led fellow Quakers who helped settle the state of Pennsylvania! Tower Green no longer has the “block” in the courtyard, but now has a nice memorial to the dead in its place.

A quick tea and treats and we headed out of the tower and to All Hallows Church by the Tower. This little unknown church is the oldest in London. It was first built in 675AD out of wood, but parts of a stone church can still be seen from the 8^th century. There was a lovely little chapel in the 8^th-10^th century undercroft called the Chapel of St. Francis and St. Dominic.  A little sign stated that it was the quietest place in all of London. The chapel also had incredible acoustics. Liam started singing in his deep bass voice and stopped when he and I felt the vibrations move through our bodies. It seems he found the exact pitch of the stone masonry within the little chapel… C3 to be exact! It was an eerie and amazing experience feeling the single C3 pitch vibrate off the ancient stones and through your body! This is also the church where President John Quincy Adams got married.

Following the bank of the Thames River we were greeted with the famous white dome of St. Paul’s Cathedral. Climbing the front steps we entered this other well-known church of London. Royal weddings and funerals have taken place here including the first State funeral of former Prime Minister Winston Churchill back in the 1960’s.

St. Paul’s dome weighs upwards of 62,000 toms and bodes one of the best views of all London. We climbed the 579 steps to the top and carefully navigated the 2ft. wide walkway that surrounds the dome. The sun was low on the horizon and peeped out below the clouds. It made the city glow in a red-orange hue that danced upon the water of the Thames River. From tip top to the very bowels of the building we found ourselves in the massive undercroft looking at the magnificent graves of Lord Horatio Nelson (we can’t seem to get enough of this guy first seeing his ship, then monument, now grave) and also the graves of the Duke of Wellington and Arthur Sullivan (as in Gilbert and Sullivan).

At 4:30 docents and church staff invited visitors to join in the Sung Eucharist for Candlemas. This is the service held on Feb. 2^nd to recall and celebrate Jesus’’ presentation at the temple when he was 40 days old. We knew the service was going to take place so we gathered with the rest of the parishioners in the back of the sanctuary. We were given candles and had a nice time speaking with church members. At 5:00 the clergy and choir came and stood in front of where were were and Mass began. As the choir sang the candles were lit and we all processed up the majestic aisle of St. Paul’s Cathedral only with candlelight. Words alone cannot express the awe and beauty of this act of simple humble worship. Once at the front we filed into our seats and worshiped Christ. The voices of the boys/men’s choir echoed off the marbled walls and the incense ascended into the heavens of the dome. Since we are all professing communed Christians, we were able to take Communion. Singing the congregational responses and hymns was lovely! After Mass we got to greet the Vicar and he had a nice chat with us all. He immediately inquired if folks we knew in Michigan were safe and warm because the Polar Vortex. It has made the papers over here! We even saw an article in a newspaper the day before on the train to Hampton Court!

As we descended the great staircase of St. Paul’s we all felt spiritually fed. It was nice to go to church after traveling around for three weeks. God is still a central part of life in central London!