Memorial of the month
Learn about the lives and legacies of those remembered in the Abbey and discover how people from all walks of life have ended up in the nation's church.
Join a member of staff at 10:30am every Tuesday and Thursday during visitor opening hours for a 10-minute talk about one of the thousands of memorials or graves that can be found around the Abbey. Please be aware this offer can be subject to cancellation at short notice.
These talks are available to those with a ticket to visit Westminster Abbey.
Join a member of the Abbey team in Poets’ Corner, for a short ten-minute talk exploring the cultural impact of Handel’s music, and the legacy of his burial in Poet’s’ Corner. We will discuss how and why an immigrant composer came to embody “Britishness,” and unpack how the Abbey honours musicians alongside poets and playwrights.
Talks will take place at 10:30am every Tuesday and Thursday. The meeting location will be by Handel’s grave in Poet’s’ Corner.
This ten-minute talk in Poets’ Corner looks at Oscar Wilde’s path from scandal in the 1890s to being recognised as a towering figure of modern literature. We’ll reflect on why Wilde’s memorial now sits among playwrights and poets he inspired, how the Abbey remembers complex lives, and what national memory looks like when reputations change over time.
Talks will take place at 10:30am every Tuesday and Thursday, except for Thursday 6th. The meeting place will be by the chairs in Poet’s’ Corner.
As the nation marks the 250th anniversary of her birth, find out more about the writer behind the novels with this ten-minute talk about Jane Austen. We’ll trace her journey from modest beginnings to the devoted “Janeite” following that grew after her death and reflect on how she came to be commemorated at Westminster Abbey among Britain’s literary greats.
Talks will take place at 10:30am every Tuesday and Thursday, except for Thursday 4th, Tuesday 23rd, Thursday 25th and Tuesday 30th. The meeting location will be near the memorial to Shakespeare in Poets’ Corner.
