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Westminster Abbey Guard Geese

On a visit to London, in 1983, my wife and I went to Westminster Abbey. There, we saw a few geese in a courtyard, and were subsequently told that they were ‘guard geese’ and that this was a long-lived custom at the abbey. (Apparently geese sound an alarm if intruders appear.)

On a return visit in 1999, with our son, there were no geese, and there was no one there who had any recollection of there ever being any geese for any reason. We were very puzzled and have since asked both friends who live in London and tour guides who service London and no one knows anything about the geese.

Has anyone ever heard about there being ‘guard geese’ at Westminster Abbey?

Posted by
2804 posts

There are no guard geese at Westminster Abbey. I'm sorry to say you were told a tall tale. Geese are on the Thames which is never near the Abbey, so as geese do they probably was there looking for food.

Posted by
390 posts

Sorry, never heard of it and I've never seen any geese at or near Westminster Abbey. Especially with all the traffic around the abbey these days!

Posted by
712 posts

Never heard of the geese, but wanted to tell you about swans on the Thames.
We rented and lived on a boat on the Thames for a week a few years ago. We traveled between Henley and Oxford. There were many Swans. There was a sign saying something like "Swan-Upping" was being held near one of the locks the next day. I found out that all the swans are considered owned by the Queen of England and each year they go up the Thames and count and Band the legs of all the swans that were born that year. We didn't get to see it, but I heard they make a very bid deal of the ceremony.
As for the geese, are you sure you are not thinking of the ravens at the Tower of London?

Posted by
204 posts

Did you by chance happen to go to Roma on he same trip? The geese who saved Roma around 510BC are famous.