London: The ashes of the eminent physicist Stephen Hawking were interred in Westminster Abbey on Friday near the graves of Isaac Newton and Charles Darwin.

Afterwards his recorded voice, set to a special piece of music, was beamed into space into a black hole light years away as "a message of peace and hope". His memorial service was very different in tone from his Christian funeral at Great St Mary's Church in Cambridge which followed Hawking's death, aged 76, on March 14.

There was a fair smattering of celebrities in a packed Westminster Abbey but also groups of schoolchildren and 1,000 members of the public, drawn by lottery from 100,000 who applied from 100 countries. There was a reading by Benedict Cumberbatch, the actor best known for his role as Sherlock Holmes but who also played Hawking in a BBC drama.

There were tributes or readings by the Astronomer Royal Lord Martin Rees; Nobel Laureate Prof. Kip Thorne, who had collaborated with Hawking; the vice-chancellor of Cambridge, Prof. Stephen Toope; and British astronaut Major Tim Peake.

Rees said: "His name will live in the annals of science. Nobody else since Einstein has done more to deepen our understanding of space and time.

"Millions have had their horizons widened by his books and lectures, and even more worldwide have been inspired by a unique example of achievement against all the odds."

The stained glass windows of Westminster Abbey glowed on a warm and sunny June day.

That Britain is still a great country was made clear by the Dean of Westminster, the Very Rev. Dr John Hall, who reminded the congregation: "We come to celebrate the life of Stephen Hawking in this holy place where God has been worshipped for over a thousand years and where kings and queens and the great men and women of our national history are memorialised. We shall bury his mortal remains with those of his fellow scientists."

"Stephen Hawking's grave will be besides that of Isaac Newton, buried here eight days after his death in 1727, and near the graves of John Herschel, buried here in 1871, Charles Darwin in 1882, Ernest Rutherford in 1937, and John Joseph Thompson in 1940.

"Nearby are memorials to other distinguished scientists, including Paul Dirac, at whose memorial dedication here in 1995 Prof Hawking gave the address."

The interment itself was a simple affair. A stone slab was removed and Hawking's ashes, in a small blue velvet box, placed below.

His 47-year-old daughter, Lucy, laid a bouquet of fresh flowers, as did his first wife, Jane Hawking, and other members of the family.The memorial stone will read:

"Here lies what was mortal of Stephen Hawking 1942-2018."

Inscribed on the tablet will be his most famous equation describing the entropy of black holes.

Hawking's voice was later beamed into space, towards the nearest black hole as his ashes were interred, set to an original piece of music composed by Vangelis.

Lucy said: "The broadcast will be beamed towards the nearest black hole, 1A 0620-00, which lives in a binary system with a fairly ordinary orange dwarf star.

"It is a message of peace and hope, about unity and the need for us to live together in harmony on this planet."