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

Hunter S. Thompson

Hunter S. Thompson

Author and journalist. Born in Louisville, Kentucky. Best known for writing 'Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas'. He died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head, and at his funeral, his ashes ...

Person, Journalism / Publishing, Literature, USA

1 memorial
Oscar Wilde

Oscar Wilde

Born in Dublin as Oscar Fingal O'Flaherty Wills Wilde. 'Importance of Being Earnest', 'Picture of Dorian Gray', etc. A flamboyant aesthete, he may have been Grossmith's model for the character Bunt...

Person, Gender Issues, Literature, Poetry, Seriously Famous, Theatre, France, Ireland

7 memorials
Percy Fitzgerald, FSA

Percy Fitzgerald, FSA

Sculptor, painter and author. Born Ireland.  The picture source website has a second picture of Fitzgerald, sadly no more flattering than this one.

Person, Literature, Sculpture, Ireland

2 memorials
Norman Douglas

Norman Douglas

Writer. Born George Norman Douglas in Thüringen, Austria, the son of a mountaineer and archaeologist. Joined the Foreign Office in 1894 and served in St Petersburg. He settled in Capri, where his c...

Person, Literature, Austria, Italy, Russia

1 memorial
Leigh Hunt

Leigh Hunt

Poet. Born Southgate. Named 'James Henry Leigh Hunt' after the Duke of Chandos, James Henry Leigh, who was employing Hunt's father, a preacher, as tutor to his nephew at the time of Hunt's birth. F...

Person, Literature, Poetry

6 memorials

Previously viewed

Heritage Lottery Fund

Heritage Lottery Fund

The National Lottery Heritage Fund (rebranded 2019), formerly the Heritage Lottery Fund (established 1994), distributes a share of National Lottery funding.

Group, Benefactor

27 memorials
Vauxhall Society

Vauxhall Society

A civic consultative group covering the parliamentary constituency of Vauxhall in London, which extends from the north of Waterloo to Brixton, Clapham, Stockwell and Vauxhall, as well as the neighb...

Group, Community / Clubs

1 memorial
John Heartfield

John Heartfield

Born Helmut Herzfeld in the outskirts of Berlin. Changed his name in 1917 in protest at the anti-British feelings in Germany. Fleeing the Nazis in 1938 he came to England where he was interned for ...

Person, Art, Politics & Administration, Germany

1 memorial
The Wailers

The Wailers

Reggae Band. Originally formed by Bob Marley, Bunny Livingston and Peter Tosh. Renamed Bob Marley and the Wailers, and then after Marley's death became known as the Wailers Band.

Group, Music / songs, Caribbean Islands

3 memorials
Queer Heritage

Queer Heritage

An appellation used on plaques erected by Sexual Avengers commemorating sites of gay events/interest.

Group, Community / Clubs, Gender Issues

1 memorial