Place    From 1559 

Poets' Corner

Categories: Literature

The popular name for the south transept of Westminster Abbey. Geoffrey Chaucer was the first person to be interred here, although it was for his position as Clerk of Works to the Palace of Westminster, rather than for literary merit. It wasn't until the burial of Edmund Spenser that the tradition began. The name was supposed to have been coined by Oliver Goldsmith. Nowadays occupants are commemorated with a wall or floor tablet rather than actual interment.

Credit for this entry to: Alan Patient of www.plaquesoflondon.co.uk

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This section lists the memorials where the subject on this page is commemorated:
Poets' Corner

Commemorated ati

Robert Browning - W8

Robert Browning lived in this house 1887 - 1889, from here his body was taken...

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Other Subjects

Ewan MacColl

Ewan MacColl

Folk singer, songwriter, dramatist, Marxist. Born James Miller in Salford, Lancashire. Three wives: theatre director Joan Littlewood, movement teacher Jean Newlove (with whom he had Kirsty MacColl)...

Person, Literature, Music / songs, Politics & Administration, Theatre

1 memorial
De Profundis

De Profundis

Letter written by Oscar Wilde to Lord Alfred Douglas whilst he was imprisoned in Reading Gaol. The title means 'from the depths' and recounts the relationship that the pair shared. It  criticises D...

Fiction, Literature

1 memorial
After the Battle Publications

After the Battle Publications

Publishers of books and magazines about military history.

Media, Literature

1 memorial
Lytton Strachey

Lytton Strachey

Critic and biographer. Born Giles Lytton Strachey.  At Cambridge he joined The Apostles.  Was a prominent conscientious objector in WW1.

Person, Literature

2 memorials
Blackheath Literary Institution

Blackheath Literary Institution

It was built by public subscription, but was very small as an auditorium and failed within 20 years. By 1858 the building had become a newpspaper reading room and lecture hall. It was damaged by a ...

Group, Literature

1 memorial