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

Comments are provided by Facebook, please ensure you are signed in here to see them

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...

Read More

Other Subjects

Nordahl Grieg

Nordahl Grieg

Norwegian poet, novelist, dramatist, journalist and political activist. Our Norwegian consultant, Johanne Elster Hanson, says that "Grieg adored England and spent many periods of his life here. He...

Person, Literature, Nationalism, Poetry, Norway

1 memorial
Samuel Augustine Courtauld

Samuel Augustine Courtauld

Philanthropist and editor. Associated with Halstead, Braintree.  Almost certainly related to Samuel Courtauld of Institute fame but we cannot discover how.

Person, Literature, Philanthropy

1 memorial
James Boswell

James Boswell

Born Edinburgh, died London. Known for his two-volume biography 'The Life Of Samuel Johnson' (1791).

Person, Literature, Scotland

5 memorials
Valentine Cameron Prinsep

Valentine Cameron Prinsep

Born Calcutta, India. Artist and writer. His father was a civil servant in India and the family moved to England on his retirement. A minor figure in the Pre-Raphaelites, although he exhibited regu...

Person, Art, Literature, India

1 memorial
Baker Street Irregulars

Baker Street Irregulars

The Baker Street Irregulars is a literary society dedicated to the study of Sherlock Holmes, Dr. Watson, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and the Victorian world.  It is the oldest existing Sherlockian soci...

Group, Community / Clubs, History, Literature

2 memorials