Sir Thomas Wyatt the Poet

(Blog by our Cousin Edie, at right.)“In September, I was in London visiting friends and family. On my ‘to do list’ was visiting Westminster Abbey. I spoke with my friend Elizabeth Sacks Chase, who is an official guide to the city of London, about our Wyatt ancestry and connection to the Abbey. As you know, the Abbey is dedicated to our relative through the Brooke line – King and Saint, Edward the Confessor, once considered the patron saint of England.

Normally, the shrine of Edward the Confessor is not open to the public, but Elizabeth arranged with the office of The Dean and Chapter, for us to have a private tour of the shrine. I wrote a ‘letter of introduction’ explaining our ancestral connection to the royal line through Sir Thomas Wyatt and Elizabeth Brooke.

It was moving to visit the shrine, which is at the heart of the cathedral. In the past,  pilgrims would kneel in the alcoves of the shrine and pray, taking specks of gold from the shrine’s exterior as a momento. As noted below, pilgrims still gather every October in honor of Saint Edward.

‘The shrine of Saint Edward the Confessor in Westminster Abbey remains where it was after the final translation of his body to a chapel east of the sanctuary on 13 October 1269 by Henry III. The day of his translation, 13 October, is regarded as his feast day, and each October the Abbey holds a week of festivities and prayer in his honour. For some time the Abbey had claimed that it possessed a set of coronation regalia that Edward had left for use in all future coronations. Following Edward’s canonization, these were regarded as holy relics, and thereafter they were used at all English coronations from the 13th Century until the destruction of the regalia by Oliver Cromwell in 1649.’

13 October is an optional feast day for Edward the Confessor for the Catholic Church of England and Wales, and the Church of England’s calendar of saints designates it as a Lesser Festival. He is regarded as one of the patron saints of difficult marriages.

Edward’s shrine is directly behind the high altar. Our guide opened a door from the shrine to the high alter, allowing us to see the Cosmati Pavement.

We stepped down onto the stone around the pavement to get a close up view of this beautiful tile floor laid in the 13th century as part of the original building commissioned by King Henry III.

I have included a link with the history of the Cosmati Pavement and it’s recent uncovering and restoration.

I also saw the chair of Edward the Confessor which is used in all coronations. It is behind a glass window at the moment as it is undergoing restoration.”

Thanks for sharing Edie. I’m sure I’m not the only one who’s eating their heart out!