The Modern Martyrs of Westminster Abbey
They can be seen over the doors at the western end
Visitors to London’s Westminster Abbey can see a very interesting set of statues just above the main doorway at the west end. These celebrate ten “modern martyrs”.
Empty niches
Cathedrals and other large churches are notable for many things, one of them being the serried ranks of statues of saints and bishops that occupy niches on the exterior stonework, with the west front being a common place to find them. However, on many such buildings all one can see are the niches, because the statues have long since disappeared for one reason or other — often out of Protestant zeal to destroy the “graven images” that adorned previously Catholic buildings.
Leaving the niches empty, however, makes the building look incomplete. The impression is of something missing. Is there not a way of dealing with these niches that will cause no offence to anyone?
The modern martyrs of Westminster Abbey
London’s Westminster Abbey solved this problem in a novel and interesting way, namely by commissioning statues of ten “modern martyrs” to stand in a row of niches that had been empty since the Middle Ages. They are on the west front of the Abbey, immediately above the main doors through which…