Biography | Charles Dickens — The Floor Stone in Poets' Corner Laid Against His Will

People assume Dickens chose Poets' Corner.

His will asked for an inexpensive, private funeral, and for burial under the wall of Rochester Castle or in one of the small churches near Gad's Hill.

A grave was even prepared at Rochester Cathedral.

The Times instead argued that Westminster Abbey was the only fit place.

John Forster, his friend and future biographer, and Arthur Penrhyn Stanley, Dean of Westminster, took that argument and made it fact.

On the morning of 14 June 1870, three coaches came into Dean's Yard.

The funeral began at 9:30.

Twelve mourners stood in an almost empty Abbey while Stanley read the 1662 Book of Common Prayer.

The plain stone in the south transept names only the dates: born 7 February 1812, died 9 June 1870.

The grave stayed open until 16 June so that strangers could throw flowers onto the coffin.

Stanley preached the memorial sermon on the 19th.

A wreath is still laid on the stone each year on the birth date.

Handel lies to the west, Sheridan to the east.

The pin is the floor, not the facade.

Photo: Jack1956, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons