War Damage: Was the Abbey damaged during the Second World War?
The main Church escaped fairly lightly. Some stained glass windows, notably the Tudor badges in the Lady chapel, were blown out in l940. The worst air raid was on the night of 10/11 May l941 when the central lantern roof caught fire and fell in, damaging some of the choir stalls. The Deanery and several houses in the precincts were destroyed. Most moveable treasures had been evacuated to stately homes in the country including most of the royal tomb effigies, paintings, manuscripts and woodwork. Sixty thousand sandbags were used to protect royal and medieval tombs which couldn’t be moved. The north and south rose windows and windows in the Apse were boarded over, as was the Cosmati floor in front of the High Altar. The Coronation Chair was sent to Gloucester Cathedral in the west of England, and the Coronation Stone was buried secretly in the Abbey.
