Tuesday, April 11, 2006

Eclesiastical architecture

I spent my birthday visiting three Cathedrals in London. The first, Westminster Abbey, is a grockle production line, incredibly popular, frequently crowded and extremely cluttered with memorials to the dead. They charge a Tenner to get in and it doesn't even have public toilets...

The second was to Westminster Cathedral, the unfinished Catholic edifice to the West. It has an impressive tower (with a lift) but sadly, it was closed that day. It is built from brick and concrete and is rather disappointing with the acres of black painted brick in the lofty spaces.

The third visit was to st Pauls and i particularly enjoyed the visit to the golden gallery which exposes Wren's famous brick cone to public view whilst traversing the numerous cast iron spiral staircases and platforms within the outer dome. It is a long way up but well worth it (and only £9!)

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