Late Stephen Hawking’s ashes interred in a jam-packed Westminster Abbey labelled “Britain’s Valhalla”
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The New York Times: LONDON — Being laid to rest in Westminster Abbey is perhaps the greatest posthumous honour that can be given to any Briton, and when Stephen Hawking’s ashes were interred there on Friday, they were placed between the remains of Isaac Newton and Charles Darwin, two of the giants of science.
But rare though it may be, entry to what is sometimes called “Britain’s Valhalla” does not involve a complicated process, according to the Very Rev. John R. Hall, the Dean of Westminster.
Actually, he says, it’s up to him to decide.
An engaging, humorous and commanding figure, Dr. Hall relishes the history surrounding his unique position, and sees Professor Hawking’s ceremony in the context of the thousands that have come before in a place of worship that was founded more than a thousand years ago.
“We buried Isaac Newton here eight days after he died,” said Dr. Hall, speaking in his office next to the ancient abbey. “We also took an immediate decision in 1882 about Charles Darwin.”
Professor Hawking qualifies not just because of his contributions to science but also by virtue of the inspirational life he lived in the face of huge obstacles. The religious views of a man sometimes described as the world’s most famous atheist were not disqualifying, Dr. Hall said.
“Whether he was actually an atheist, whether he was actually an agnostic, what his position was, is not, to my mind, entirely clear,” said Dr. Hall. “My position is quite simply this: Whether a person believes in God or not, if someone is achieving extraordinary things then I believe God is in that process.”
More than 3,300 Britons are buried or commemorated in the abbey, and a walk through its Gothic splendor, under pointed arches, ribbed vaulting and flying buttresses, provides a remarkable, if eclectic, tour of a millennium of history, culture and scientific progress.
Many of those laid to rest here are long forgotten, but there are splendid memorials, including one to Queen Elizabeth I, who is among 17 monarchs lying alongside some of the nation’s greatest poets, scientists and musicians.
