History

In the centre part of the nave of Westminster Abbey is the grave of Sir George Gilbert Scott, architect and Surveyor of the Fabric at the Abbey from 1849-78. He was perhaps the foremost of the Gothic Revivalists in the Victorian period and was a designer and restorer of many churches and secular buildings. While Surveyor at the Abbey he restored the Chapter House and designed a triple portico for the north front, as well as supervising various restoration works to preserve the fabric of the Church. He designed the High Altar 1867-73, a new wooden font cover, the gravestones of Lord Palmerston and Robert Stephenson and the memorial column opposite the west entrance of the Abbey to former pupils of Westminster School who had died during the Crimean War and Indian Mutiny. He also restored the interior of St Margaret's Westminster.  His Gleanings from Westminster Abbey was published in 1861, going into a second edition in 1863.

A design for a tiled floor over his grave was rejected in favour of a brass, laid down in 1881, designed by Scott’s pupil George Edmund Street and executed by Barkentin & Krall. There is a central cross with an Agnus Dei in the centre and emblems of the four Evangelists. Below the arms of the cross are two partly enamelled coats of arms and his motto Sperandum (to be hoped). Scott’s arms are: argent three Catherine wheels sable within a bordure engrailed gules. Two large figures represent St George and (probably) St Thomas holding a carpenters square and dividers. Scott appears at the base of the cross, seated at his desk, and at each corner are allegorical figures representing the painter, sculptor, smith and carpenter. The Latin inscription can be translated:

“George Gilbert Scott, a man of honour, architect of extraordinary skill, died on 27th day of March, year of salvation 1878, aged 67. Remember me, Lord Jesus”.

Scott was born on 13 July 1811 at Gawcott in Buckinghamshire, son of the Revd. Thomas Scott and his wife Euphemia (Lynch). He was educated locally and then articled to an architect in London. He went into partnership for a time with William Moffat and in 1838 married Caroline Oldrid (d.1872). They had five sons, George Gilbert, John Oldrid (who both became architects), Albert, Alwyne and Henry. Queen Victoria conferred a knighthood on him just after he had completed the memorial to Prince Albert in Kensington Gardens. He died of heart failure on 27 March 1878.

A photograph of the brass can be purchased from Westminster Abbey Library.

Further reading

Oxford Dictionary of National Biography 2004.

Personal and Professional Recollections by Sir G.G.Scott, edited by Gavin Stamp, 1995.

"Surveyors of the Fabric of Westminster Abbey 1827-1906. Reports and Letters" edited by Christine Reynolds (2011).

Sir George Gilbert Scott and the restoration of the Chapter House, by Steven Brindle in Westminster Abbey Chapter House edited by W.Rodwell and R.Mortimer (2010).

An account of the funeral and engravings are in the "Illustrated London News"