Friday, March 26, 2010

Westminster

stamp size 3.5" x 2.25"

Carved for a letterboxing friend up in Canada, this stamp was featured at another great event.

And, just for fun, here's some information about Westminster Abby:

The Collegiate Church of St Peter at Westminster, which is almost always referred to by its original name of Westminster Abbey, is a large, mainly Gothic church, in Westminster, London, just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is the traditional place of coronation and burial site for English monarchs. It briefly held the status of a cathedral from 1546–1556, and is currently a Royal Peculiar.

According to tradition a shrine was first founded in 616 on the present site, then known as Thorn Ey (Thorn Island); its tradition of miraculous consecration after a fisherman on the River Thames saw a vision of Saint Peter justifying the presents of salmon from the Thames fishermen that the Abbey received. In the 960s or early 970s Saint Dunstan, assisted by King Edgar, planted a community of Benedictine monks here. The stone Abbey was built around 1045–1050 by King Edward the Confessor and was later rebuilt again by Henry III in 1245, who had selected the site for his burial: it was consecrated on December 28, 1065, only a week before the Confessor's death and subsequent funeral. It was the site of the last coronation prior to the Norman Invasion, that of his successor King Harold.

Since the coronations in 1066 of both King Harold and William the Conqueror, all English and British monarchs (except Edward V and Edward VIII, who did not have coronations) have been crowned in the Abbey.

4 comments:

Mama Cache said...

Absolutely awesome carve.

Anonymous said...

I had the honour of planting this wonderful stamp. I just changed the logbook in November - full of wonderful comments and praise for this most talented carver. We are so lucky to have a SHH stamp in our area!

Fiddleheads

Ari C'rona said...

I just love this one, my friend! Cool info - I didn't know all the history behind it. :o)

Webfoot said...

Wonderful carving! And as to the history, I particularly like the part about it being a "Royal Peculiar". :)

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