A night in the life of the Beadles

My mission was to lift the lid on an unseen cog in the Abbey machine: the Beadles, the team that keeps things running when all the other staff have left. Their job is sometimes illuminating, at others deeply strange. It’s rarely dull.  

For starters, locking everything up is a complex job. The Abbey has many doors. Jenny, an ex-hospitality worker and one of the increasing number of women being recruited, brandishes an immense bunch of keys that look as if they could be an effective weapon.  

Thankfully things go to plan. As I follow them around, we see a team of people taking apart the Abbey’s chandeliers for cleaning. The wave of tinkling from each piece of crystal as it is detached is little short of magical against the backdrop of the slamming doors and what’s left of the light outside coming in through the stained glass.  

We pause so that Jenny and Reg can talk about how surprisingly dangerous it can be to take down the flags, especially when the weather is damp and windy and the material is heavy. The Abbey has four pinnacles with pointed weather vanes that can snag the flags. If caught it can be difficult to remove them, and in the past it’s resulted in considerable damage to the flags and the pinnacles. ‘People also complain if they see they’re not fully raised’, Reg adds.  

He points out a favourite monument high up on the wall, to William Hargrave, a former Governor of Gibraltar, depicting what looks like a winged figure fending off a skeleton. It feels suitably gothic. 

I ask if, in such a huge place, there have been moments on the night shift that made them jump. ‘Not me’, says Jenny, who is fairly new.  

Reg, a veteran Beadle, pauses before saying: ‘Once I heard a voice coming from Abbot’s Pew, the balcony above me, and I thought I was having a heart attack. Turns out it was just the Dean.’ Another time, Reg ‘went into the coffee area and saw what looked like two limbs stretching out from behind the bin. It was just some fluttering bin liners, but they looked a lot like arms.’ 

I made the mistake of reading Stephen King on the way over, and now I start to imagine one of the monuments leaping out and strangling me from behind. I keep this thought to myself. 

As we exit the building, it’s quite striking to see the Houses of Parliament in the background, although it’s a reminder of how much it adds to the security burden. Reg was on duty outside St Margaret’s Church alongside the Abbey on the day of the 2017 Westminster Bridge attack and remembers hearing gunshots from near Parliament. The buildings around here are a potential target, and the Beadles need an iron-clad contingency plan in case of an incident.  

My two and a half hours with my guides is soon up, but Jenny and Reg will be there until early in the morning. It seems endless. Their job requires considerable vigilance and an eye for detail. My takeaway is that it’s not for the faint-hearted.  

Thanks for the tour guys. You are made of sterner stuff than me.  

Interviews with Reg Greenacre, Senior Security Beadle and Jennifer Romion, Security Beadle by Maddy Fry. Photography by Paul Grover.