We hit the wall

Hexham Abbey, since 674. Notice the different types of stone.

Alas, for the best laid plans of mice and men (or women), as we were unable to board the overnight train to Carlisle! We experimented with alternate routings that involved a terrible journey with an enormous party of fantastically drunken youth to and return from Peterborough. This didn’t help in any way, and we ended up on the first train out from King’s Cross to Hexham in the morning.

Hexham is a beautiful village dominated by its remarkable abbey. All the narrow twisting roads and alleyways lead you up to the medieval market square.A church was first built at Hexham Abbey in 674 and there has been one there ever since. The original structure was built from stones scavenged from Roman ruins like the nearby sites along Hadrian’s Wall. In the crypt, the only part of the original building left there are stones on which Roman inscriptions can be read. In 875 the church was destroyed by the Danes (sounds familiar I think). Most of the present building dates from early Norman times, but even from the outside it is possible to see evidence of later additions in different colored stone and building styles. We were unable to examine this church in detail because we arrived about 15 minutes ahead of a wedding service.

What brought us here is the easy access to Hadrian’s Wall. There is a marvelous bus service (AD122 is the bus, naturally) that stops at various key sites all along the wall – Chesters, Housesteads, Vindolanda, and the Roman Army Museum. The wall stretches 80+ miles long and is a popular hiking trail. Our original plans called for us to hike the length of it, but the desperate need to scrape out time to get to Skara Brae in the Orkneys precluded the extra time it would have taken. Nevertheless, we had splendid time poking around the ruins and excavation sites in our selected locations.

Our first stop was Vindolanda. It was a Roman castrum (auxiliary fort) set a short distance south of Hadrian's Wall.  Its primary function was to guard the Roman road from the River Tyne to the Solway Firth. What is visible today are the remnants of the last of at least 5 wooden and 2 stone forts on the site, the first of which was built around 85. A large amount of the stone from Vindolanda, and indeed, from all of the Roman sites in the area has been carted away over the centuries. Driving through the countryside there it is obvious that the stones one sees in the farm buildings and walls around are the latest use to which those Roman worked stones have been put. One of the interesting things at Vindolanda is that part of the site is still an active archaeological dig. You can walk around in the part that has been excavated, it is the low remnants of the Roman walls and the lush, green grass that grows in England. The active dig area is fenced off and resembles a muddy rock pile. One can make out the walls, drains, and streets, but you have to look carefully through the rubble that has not yet been moved. Vindolanda’s greatest gift to posterity are the wooden diptychs known as the Vindolanda Tablets, examples of which we saw housed in the British Museum. These contain the oldest examples of handwriting in Britain. These documents record military matters and other official business as well as personal matters. One is an invitation to a birthday party.

After excavation is complete

Before the excavations are complete

There is no surviving section of Hadrian’s Wall visible at Vindolanda (they do have a reconstruction), but there is at Housesteads, which was where we went next. The Roman name of the fort was Vercovicium, and like Vindolanda, it was built to secure the northern frontier of the empire. However, Housesteads (to use its modern name) was built later, around 124, shortly after the beginning of construction of Hadrian’s Wall in 122. Housesteads sits on high hill overlooking a pass between two ridges through which Hadrian’s Wall runs, and where there is a commanding view of the surrounding country. Though this probably wasn’t the case in the Romans’ day, today the approach to Housesteads is a tiring climb through a field full of sheep and their many leavings, so you really need to watch where you step. It is ideally placed to keep an eye on unfriendly natives. Today, the site offers a sweeping view of rolling green hills flecked with the fleecy white specks of sheep.

The granary at Housesteads. These posts elevated the floor
to keep food dry and away from vermin.

The view from Housesteads along Hadrian's Wall

London Bridge is not currently falling down

A Bronze Age Londoner

London Bridge was falling down, that’s why they sold it to a consortium of Americans (who may have thought they were purchasing iconic Tower Bridge), who transplanted it to Arizona. It isn’t anything special to look at. Neither is the new one. What is special about it is that was erected at the same location as the first bridge across the Thames built by the Romans. Over the years, there have been several bridges at that site, each was falling or fell down.

Roman artifacts from London

All this London history is part of the reason for our return. The current city sits atop the constructions and remains of at least 8000 years. The excellent City of London Museum covers this with marvelously informative displays – dioramas, models, interactive “touchable” artifacts, descriptive information panels, maps, display tables, sit-down computer research stations for each time period, videos, and self-guided tour activity books. We got millions of ideas for the museums and projects we want our students to create from our digs. The museum was itself built on the ruins of the Roman city wall – uncovered by bombs during WW I. There is a lovely memorial garden with a line of red poppies marking the places where civilians were killed by the bombing.

A good luck tablet from the front yard of a London resident
who lived 1900 years ago. Notice the name of the city.

We raced from the museum over to St. Paul’s Cathedral for Evensong. This cathedral is Christopher Wren’s magnum opus, officially completed in 1711. It was built as a replacement for the old St. Paul’s Cathedral which was destroyed in the Great Fire. Its coppery green dome dominates the central London skyline. It is in a style called English Baroque. On the outside it is not terribly baroque, far less ornamented than other cathedrals we have seen. On the inside however, the label baroque almost seems inadequate. Alas that no photos may be taken in the church. The nave is fairly understated. It is light, airy, and open; basically the exact opposite of Westminster Abbey. However, when one’s eyes reach the quire screen, and the ceiling beyond, there is a sudden brightness of gilding and sparkling mosaics. I think it is meant to look Byzantine.

Outside the British Museum

We sat in the quire for evensong and spent the whole time craning our necks this way and that to try to take in all the details. The ceiling is mosaics of scenes from the Bible in supersaturated colors. The canopy over the high alter is intricately carved and richly painted. When it debuted, the cathedral was criticized by some for being “un-English” and it is easy to see what they meant. It is most definitely unique among the cathedrals and abbey churches we have seen around the country. Which is not to say it is not beautiful, it is, but it is also not like anything else. The Choir was amazing as we have come to expect these Anglican choirs to be, and we left the service once more in awe of how 40 human voices could fill such and immense space so gloriously.

Winged bull from Nimrud

The next day we went to the British Museum. It is almost impossible to describe this museum – a mammoth edifice crammed full of humankind’s greatest achievements in stone, glass, clay, metal, wood, textiles, and any other base material I have neglected to mention. There has been considerable controversy around collections like this – that hold treasures from the entire globe. Without wishing to stir coals, I can only say that I wish they had even more. They have proved an outstanding conservator of the heritage of humanity. That is neither more nor less than what they have assembled here. They make safe and accessible (except for the halls with artifacts from the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus – they were closed!) many of the greatest treasures of the past. I know that I am glad that the treasures from the Assyrian and Mesopotamian galleries are in the UK rather than in the land where they were made because they would for almost certain not exist today if they had been left there.

Royal Lion Hunt 

What's left of one of the Parthenon's pediments

If you have ever taken an introduction to art history class, then you know what we saw:  everything from the first half of the textbook. There were the winged bulls with human heads wearing long, ringleted beards from Nimrud. We saw exquisitely painted sarcophagi from Egypt. There was the elaborately inlayed Standard of Ur. The Rosetta Stone which was used to decipher Egyptian hieroglyphics. The friezes and pediments from the Parthenon brought to England from Athens by Lord Elgin. There are rooms bursting with Greek red and black figure ware. There are Mesopotamian cylinder seals and tablets etched with the tiniest cuneiform writing.

I have personally had many “overwhelmed by history” moments on this trip (as in, “whoa, Richard II stood here in this spot”, or “whoa, I’m standing in a 5000 year old chamber”), but the British Museum took that feeling to a whole new level. It is truly awe inspiring to see what people long ago were capable of creating, and it is a little disheartening to think that all we have created in the last 50 years that will still be here in 4000 years is plastic bottles.

The Globe was again our destination in the evening. We attended the opening night of “As You Like It”, and we did like it – very much! It was a fantastic performance – the actors milked every line for maximum humor. We again, had queued early enough for stage-side seats? Foot-room? Positions? Whatever, we were once again practically onstage with the actors. Again, we stood for 3+ hours without the slightest awareness of it, so absorbed in the play as we were. It is wonderful to see these works performed as they would have been seen more than 400 years ago – to reach across time and space and live an experience the same way is indescribably awe-inspiring.

Caryatid from the Erechtheion at the
Acropolis in Athens

Mummy with funerary ornaments

The Standard of Ur

The Play's the Thing - Stratford-upon-Avon

The River Avon

We arrived in this absurdly charming town about 2:00, dropped off the bags and took off to see all the Shakespearean sights. The canal basin was loaded with swans, geese, marsh hens, and ducks – mainly swans, and fairly aggressive swans at that. They swagger down the river in packs, like an avian street gang, shaking down passersby for snacks. They look beautiful and add considerably to the charm of the waterway though.

We walked all through the RSC Park to Holy Trinity Church. This is the site of Shakespeare’s grave, and in compliance with EU standards on buildings of any historic or aesthetic interest it is bedecked in scaffolding and corrugated steel screens. The church has quite an impressive organ, lovely stained glass windows, and the font in use in the 16^th century at which young Shakespeare was baptized. They also have a facsimile of the parish register pages showing Shakespeare’s baptism and burial records. The tomb is a simple stone slab on the floor in front of the altar. The engraving is so eroded by hundreds of years’ worth of traffic that a sign now hangs above it with a copy of the legend.

The organ at Holy Trinity Church

We had dinner at the RSC waterside café and hit the shop before showtime. Somehow we did not buy everything – primarily because no one could face carrying it, but it was very hard. They have many delightful treasures – like a wooden Ophelia that collapses into a bank of cattails when you press the bottom, badges with all the Bard’s best insults, and many, many more. There are also wardrobes with retired costumes to play dress up.

The Bard's grace before the alter and the inscription

Our first performance was The Merchant of Venice. It was fantastic! We weren’t actually touching the performers this time, but it is quite an intimate space. While all the actors were excellent, I have to say it was definitely the most human and compelling Shylock I have ever seen.

Next day we went to see Shakespeare’s birthplace, Harvard House (birthplace & childhood home of John Harvard founder of the eponymous university!), and King Edward VI school – Shakespeare’s grammar school. Our afternoon was used up on the river and in reading Othello in preparation for the performance!

The stage is set for the second half of
 "Othello".  The water feature is under
the metal thing in the center of the
floor.

Othello was another excellent performance. However, the show was really stolen by the sets. There is no curtain at a Shakespearean theater so you can see everything as you enter. This night, there was a high stone arch flanked by grimy walls framing a dark dockside scene. The floor appeared paved with large stones and in the center sat a small wooden boat on a decorative metal grate that extended towards the back of the stage turning left and right to create a T shape. We took this to be a suggestion of water, figuring that light and steam would be used to create the illusion of floating. However, when the performance started, Iago and Rodrigo came onto the stage and stepped into the boat. And it rocked and wobbled and created ripple in the water. The grate was actually the bottom of a pool! After Iago poles himself away, the metal grate rises above the water and creates the floor of Othello’s house. The grates were also able to rise above the floor of the stage to act as a table and as a set of stairs. The high arch swung back, and pieces suspended from the ceiling effectively created the play’s other settings. These were some of the best sets we have ever seen.

London, too much wonderful

Ready to Stand for 3 hours!

We arrived into St. Pancras station and were immediately jolted into the 21^st century. Mammoth herds of people representing every nationality clacking away in every tongue on the planet surged and seethed around us. A minute to shake off the suburban sluggishness and we were ready to dive into the current. As we were at St. Pancras, it seemed absurd to skip a quick look at the Harry Potter Platform 9 ¾ exhibit across the road at King’s Cross. That pilgrimage performed, we took the underground to Bayswater, unloaded the luggage, and ran out to get started on our London Agenda.

Hyde Park

Our Hotel was very near the western end of Kensington Gardens and we walked through these twice a day. Kensington runs into Hyde Park which is catty corner to St. James Park. Each of these beautiful spaces is a masterpiece of urban planning. They feature paths for cyclists as well as pedestrians. The water courses are swarming with swans and ducks. Some of the flowerbeds are manicured, but many areas hold wildflowers; daisies, bright red poppies, and long stems of foxgloves. The Hyde Park Rose Garden was particularly marvelous. There is a rainbow of roses whose scent permeates the area. The beds are arranged around a central fountain, but then paths wind off in different directions. Some pass under long shady pergolas dripping with pink and purple climbing roses. Others snake along beside creamy pink and yellow roses interspersed with cornflower and delphinium.

If you traverse the parks along the Serpentine it leads you out to Buckingham Palace and the entrance to The Mall or St. James’ Park. We took the Mall route dodging the Great Migration of tourists en route from Trafalgar Square to Buckingham Palace/ Trafalgar Square and marching squads of the Queen’s Guard on our way to the National Gallery.

This was our first port of call as we wanted to compile a photo archive of decorative elements that would have originally been in place in the various chapels, churches, and cathedrals we have visited. Also they have some period chests, murals, and decorative objects that would have furnished castles, palaces, and stately homes of the medieval and Renaissance periods. We systematically worked our way through several centuries before time constraints forced us to cherry pick personal favorites in the 19^th and 20^th century galleries.

The Houses of Parliament

We crossed the Thames via the Jubilee Bridge and headed off to Shakespeare’s Globe – it is really hard to even begin to describe this experience without immediately lapsing into incoherent gibbering. In many ways this is what our fellowship is all about – using oral tradition, archeological evidence, and the historical record to make the past come alive again. It is an incredible structure and a fantastic performance space. We arrived early so we could get right up front. We made sure to get the “groundling” tickets which allow you to actually stand next to the stage. “Allow” might be a stretch for some, and I won’t deny that standing up for 3 hours after walking at least 10 miles and very likely more earlier in the day was challenging. However, no one noticed until later, because the performance commanded all our attention! The play was King John, which none of us have ever seen performed before. Absolutely marvelous! The action took place all around us, we were at constant risk of being whacked by courtiers’ capes and showered with spittle. A magical experience! We cannot wait for our next performance!

Closed tube stations led us past St. Paul’s. It was truly a gorgeous sight outlined against the twilight sky. We eventually located a station not being worked on, boarded the car, and headed back to Prince’s Square to collapse.

We began our day with a trip down the River Thames. The water taxis and various cruise services offer a great way to escape the madness of London’s streets and excellent views of many of the best sights! We passed beneath London Bridge (drab beyond belief, but built on the same site as the original bridge installed by Romans), the infamous Wibbly Wobbly bridge, more accurately known as the Millennium Bridge, Waterloo Bridge – notable for being made of the same Portland stone as London’s most famous edifices and being constructed entirely by women during WWII, and London’s most iconic bridge –Tower Bridge. Also on the river, we saw the bronze lions that act as flood markers and were taught an amusing piece of doggerel:

            When the lions are drinking,

Then London is sinking

            When the lions are ducked,

            Then London is…flooded.

Tower of London, note the Traitor's Entrance

We had chosen the water approach to see the outside of Traitor’s Gate as well as to avoid crowds. It is a wonderful introduction to the Tower of London (Her Majesty’s Royal Palace and Fortress the Tower of London). In American imagination, the Tower is grim fortress of torture and execution. While that was true for a handful of people, it has very little to do with the actual purpose and functions of this 1000+ year old complex. The central construction, the White Tower, was built by William the Conqueror, since its inception, it has housed royalty in palatial comfort and splendor, royal treasure in abundance, menageries of exotic wild animals, and, of course, political prisoners. Its most famous residents today are (in no particular order) the Crown Jewels, the Ravens, and the Yeomen Warders.

Pooh and a one of the Yeoman Warders

We visited all the towers and rooms added during the 12^th and 13^th centuries. They have redone a couple of the rooms with period hangings, tilework, and furnishings. The Crown Jewels – we really didn’t expect to be that impressed after everything we saw in Russia. I don’t want to downplay the insane amount of gloriously wrought treasure we saw all over the place there, but apparently we had not used our allotment of awestruckness. You cannot imagine how big the Cullinan I diamond in the scepter is – 530 carats. The various and sundry crowns are bedecked with literally thousands of priceless gems, enormous rubies, sapphires, pearls, and, of course, diamonds – thousands upon thousands of diamonds. The communion vessels are all marvelously elaborate gold/ silver gilt, as is all the tableware. There is a punchbowl larger than a hipbath with a ladle with a 3-4’ golden handle and enormous polished shell bowl. The exhibit was lovely, but I really want them to redo it as a ride – seriously, like at Epcot. There is so much to see, and it is so atmospherically lit, it is quite difficult to take everything in while being jostled by everyone else trying to see everything as well. Everyone was running into everyone else, & we should just be in little slow moving cars.

The most amazing job in the whole place must be the Ravenmaster. The ravens have definitely been there since the reign of King Charles II as he had Royal Observatory moved to Greenwich when they complained that the ravens interfered with their observation work. This was due to a legend that if the ravens ever leave the tower, the monarchy will fall. King Charles, obviously had no desire to take chances – he had just barely restored the monarchy!

Hyde Park

From the Tower, we boarded the water taxi back to Westminster for a visit to the Abbey. Here the London Pass proved its worth as we were able to go straight in rather than wait in a rather long line. Westminster Abbey is formally called the Collegiate Church of St. Peter at Westminster. It started out a community of monks perhaps as early as 960 under the direction of St. Dunstan. The present structure was begun in 1245 by Henry III as a burial place. Edward the Confessor is buried there, as are Elizabeth I, Mary Queen of Scots, Richard II, and Henry V. However, not just British Kings and Queens are memorialized there. Indeed, the place is so crowded with monuments to various nobles, soldiers, scientists, and artists that it begins to feels like a disorganized museum rather than a church. The audio guide is narrated by Jeremy Irons and is fantastically informative. The best story is the one explaining the unexpected presence of a marker on the floor bearing the name of Oliver Cromwell. He was of course the man who destroyed the Monarchy and had Charles I executed. After his death, he was interred in Westminster Abbey. A few years later, after the Monarchy had been restored, Cromwell’s body was exhumed, beheaded, and drawn and quartered. He is no longer buried there, but the spot where he was is still marked.

Hyde Park rose garden

Westminster Abbey sits beside the Houses of Parliament whose most notable feature is its iconic clock tower. That clock tower is known as the Elizabeth II Tower, renamed for the current monarch at her Diamond Jubilee. The name most people think is ascribed to this tower, Big Ben, is actually the nickname of the Great Bell which tolls the hours and weighs 16 tons. The Houses of Parliament has another tower, without a clock but flying a large Union Flag (it’s only the Union Jack when it is flying from a ship), called the Victoria Tower. If you plan to enter the Houses of Parliament, be warned, it is against the law, under penalty of hanging, to die inside.