Читать книгу The Children's Story of Westminster Abbey онлайн

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The Abbey of Westminster was for monks of the Benedictine Order. The Abbot of Westminster was a very great person, and many well known places belonged to the Abbey, such, for instance, as Covent Garden (the Convent Garden) and Hyde Park, besides others which were far away from London. Windsor at one time belonged to the Abbey of Westminster, but the Conqueror wanted it himself, and so made the monks exchange Windsor for land in other places.

The Church, then, which we now call the Abbey, was the Abbey Church of St. Peter in Westminster. Since the days of Queen Elizabeth, the proper title of the church has been “The Collegiate Church of St. Peter in Westminster,” but every one likes to keep the old name, and to call it Westminster Abbey. As we shall see later on, a good deal still remains of the old monastic buildings besides the church. Such are the beautiful cloisters, the Chapter-House, and parts of the library and dormitory.

Now, as to where the Abbey is built. It stands on what was long ago a desolate little island in the Thames, an island which was overgrown with great thorns and thickets, and in which wild beasts, such as the wild ox and the huge red deer, used to roam about. It was perhaps not unlike the Isle of Athelney, where King Alfred hid from his enemies and made his plans.