The period 1475–1528 saw a radical redevelopment of St George's Chapel set in motion by Edward IV and continued by Henry VII under the supervision of his most esteemed counsellor, Sir Reginald Bray, and by Henry VIII. The thirteenth-century Chapel of St Edward the Confessor was enlarged into a cathedral-like space under the direction of Richard Beauchamp, Bishop of Salisbury, and the master mason, Henry Janyns.[5]
The Chapel suffered a great deal of destruction during the English Civil War. Parliamentary forces broke into and plundered the chapel and treasury on 23 October 1642. Further pillage occurred in 1643 when the fifteenth-century chapter house was destroyed, lead was stripped off the chapel roofs, and elements of Henry VIII's unfinished funeral monument were stolen. Following his execution in 1649, Charles I was buried in a small vault in the centre of the choir at St George's Chapel, which also contained the coffins of Henry VIII and Queen Jane (née Seymour).[6]
During his life and reign, King George III was responsible for reigniting royal interest in Windsor Castle, which had been much overlooked after the House of Hanover came to the throne of the Great Britain in 1714. On 12 August 1776 the royal family first attended the Sunday morning service at St George's Chapel – which they called "the Cathedral". George III was committed to St George's Chapel; he inspired and in large part funded an extensive restoration of the chapel from 1780 to 1790.[7]
The reign of Queen Victoria saw further changes made to the structure of the chapel. The east end of the choir was reworked in memory of Prince Albert. The Lady Chapel, which had been abandoned by Henry VII, was completed and renamed the Albert Memorial Chapel.[8]
By the early twentieth century, the bowing walls, cracked vaulting, decayed stone and stripped lead required urgent attention. In 1920 a much needed ten-year restoration project began at George's Chapel, overseen by the consulting architect Sir Harold Brakspear.[9] As part of this programme, Mahomet Thomas Phillips – an Anglo-Congolese sculptor – produced a falcon and a unicorn in 1923.[10]
The original beasts dated from the sixteenth century, but were removed in 1682 on the advice of Sir Christopher Wren. Wren had criticised the Reigate Stone, the calcareous sandstone from which they were constructed. The present statues date from 1925 when the chapel was restored.[13][14]
Members of the Order of the Garter meet at Windsor Castle every June for the annual Garter Service. After lunch in the State Apartments (Upper Ward of the Castle), they process on foot in their robes and insignia, down to St George's Chapel for the service. The Garter Service was revived in 1948 by King George VI for the 600th anniversary of the founding of the Order and has since become an annual event.[16]
Heraldryedit
After their installation, members are each assigned a stall in the chapel choir above which his or her heraldic devices are displayed. A member's sword is placed beneath a helmet which is decorated with a mantling and topped with a crest, coronet or crown. Above this, a member's heraldic banner is hoisted emblazoned with his arms.[17]
A Garter stall plate, a small elaborately enamelled plate of brass, is affixed to the back of the stall displaying its member's name and arms with other inscriptions. On a member's death, the sword, helmet, mantling, crest, coronet or crown, and banner are removed. A service marking the death of a late member must be held before the stall can be assigned to anyone else. The ceremony takes place in the chapel, during which the Military Knights of Windsor carry the banner of the deceased member and offer it to the Dean of Windsor, who places it on the altar. The stall plates, however, are not removed. They remain permanently affixed to the stall, so the stalls of the chapel are emblazoned with a collection of 800 plates of the members throughout history.[18]
Chantriesedit
St George's Chapel is among the most important medieval chantry foundations to have survived in England. The college was itself part of a medieval chantry, and there are a number of other chantry elements in the form of altars and small chapels in memory of various English monarchs and of a number of prominent courtiers, deans and canons. Special services and prayers would also be offered in memory of the founder. Henry VIII had originally intended another chantry to be set up in the chapel, despite the fact that his ecclesiastical changes led to the Reformation in England and the eventual suppression of chantries.[19]
The much-admired iron gates in the sanctuary of the chapel as well as the locks on the doors of the chapel are the work of the medieval Cornish metalsmith John Tresilian.[20]
Rutland Chantryedit
The Rutland Chantry chapel, forming the northern transept of St George's Chapel, was founded in 1491 in honour of Sir Thomas St Leger (c. 1440–1483) and Anne of York (1439–1476).[21] Sir Thomas was Anne's second husband. She was the eldest surviving daughter of Richard Plantagenet, 3rd Duke of York, and thus elder sister of kings Edward IV (1442–1483) and Richard III (1452–1485). A monumental brass in memory of Anne and Sir Thomas survives on the east wall of the Rutland Chantry, the inscription of which records that the chantry was founded "with two priests singing forevermore":
"Wythin thys Chappell lyethe beryed Anne Duchess of Exetur suster unto the noble kyng Edward the forte. And also the body of syr Thomas Sellynger knyght her husband which hathe funde within thys College a Chauntre with too prestys sy’gyng for ev’more. On whose soule god have mercy. The wych Anne duchess dyed in the yere of oure lorde M Thowsande CCCCl xxv"[22]
The chantry received its current name in honour of the Earls of Rutland, descendants of Anne and Sir Thomas: their daughter, also Anne, married George Manners, 11th Baron Ros, and their son was Thomas Manners, 1st Earl of Rutland. The tomb of George and Anne Manners is a prominent feature of the chantry. Their effigies are carved in English alabaster.[21]
Edward VII, King of the United Kingdom and Emperor of India, on 20 May 1910 (originally interred in the Royal Vault)[30]
Alexandra of Denmark, Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India, on 28 November 1925 (originally interred in the Royal Vault); wife of Edward VII[30]
Quireedit
Jane Seymour, Queen of England, in 1537; third wife of Henry VIII
George V, King of the United Kingdom and Emperor of India, in 1936 (originally interred in the Royal Vault)[30]
Mary of Teck, Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India, in 1953; wife of George V[30]
King George VI Memorial Chapeledit
George VI, King of the United Kingdom, Emperor of India and Head of the Commonwealth, on 26 March 1969 (originally interred in the Royal Vault on 15 February 1952, and moved to the chapel following its construction)
Elizabeth (née Bowes-Lyon), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India, in 2002; wife of George VI[30]
Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, in 2022 (originally interred in the Royal Vault in 2021 and moved to the chapel upon his wife's death); husband of Elizabeth II[30]
Elizabeth II, Queen of the United Kingdom and Head of the Commonwealth, in 2022[30]
Princess Mary of the United Kingdom, Duchess of Gloucester and Edinburgh, in 1857; daughter of George III and Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, wife of Prince William Frederick, Duke of Gloucester and Edinburgh[30]
Prince Harald of Schleswig-Holstein, in 1876; son of Princess Helena of the United Kingdom and Prince Christian of Schleswig-Holstein[30] – moved to the Frogmore Royal Burial Ground in 1928
Prince Francis of Teck, in 1910; brother of Mary of Teck – moved to the Frogmore Royal Burial Ground in 1928[30]
Princess Louise Margaret of Prussia, Duchess of Connaught and Strathearn, in 1917; wife of Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn – moved to the Frogmore Royal Burial Ground in 1928[30]
Princess Helena of the United Kingdom, Princess Christian of Schleswig-Holstein, in 1923; daughter of Victoria, Queen of the United Kingdom and Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha – moved to the Frogmore Royal Burial Ground in 1928[30]
Rupert Cambridge, Viscount Trematon (formerly Prince Rupert of Teck), in 1928; son of Alexander Cambridge, 1st Earl of Athlone (formerly Prince Alexander of Teck) and Princess Alice of Albany – moved to the Frogmore Royal Burial Ground later that year[30]
Louise, Princess Royal and Duchess of Fife, in 1931; daughter of Edward VII and Alexandra of Denmark – moved to St Ninian's Chapel, Braemar later that year[30]
Prince Arthur of Connaught, in 1938; son of Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn and Princess Louise Margaret of Prussia – moved to the Frogmore Royal Burial Ground in 1939[30]
Princess Louise of the United Kingdom, Duchess of Argyll, in 1939 (ashes); daughter of Victoria, Queen of the United Kingdom and Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha – moved to the Frogmore Royal Burial Ground in 1940[30]
Princess Helena Victoria of Schleswig-Holstein, in 1948; daughter of Princess Helena of the United Kingdom and Prince Christian of Schleswig-Holstein – moved to the Frogmore Royal Burial Ground in 1948[30]
Princess Marie Louise of Schleswig-Holstein (formerly Princess Aribert of Anhalt), in 1956; daughter of Princess Helena of the United Kingdom and Prince Christian of Schleswig-Holstein – moved to the Frogmore Royal Burial Ground in 1957[30]
Major-General Alexander Cambridge, 1st Earl of Athlone (formerly Prince Alexander of Teck), in 1957; brother of Mary of Teck – moved to the Frogmore Royal Burial Ground later that year[30]
John Henry Le Keux. St. George's Chapel, Windsor. Ground Plan 1810. Engraved after a plan by F. Mackenzie, published in Britton's Architectural antiquities of Great Britain, 1807. Copper-engraved antique plan.[35][36]
^"Harry and Meghan to wed at Windsor in May". BBC News. 28 November 2017. Retrieved 28 November 2017.
^Petter, Olivia (16 October 2020). "What will happen when the Queen dies and where will she be buried". The Independent. Archived from the original on 24 May 2022. Retrieved 11 April 2021.
^P H Ditchfield; William Page, eds. (1907). "Collegiate churches: Windsor (St George's chapel)". A History of the County of Berkshire: Volume 2. Victoria County History. p. 106.
^"The Aerary Porch". St. George's Chapel website. Archived from the original on 15 September 2006. Retrieved 1 October 2022.
^James, Sara N. (2016). Art in England: The Saxons to the Tudors: 600–1600. Oxbow Books. p. 216. ISBN 978-1785702266.
^"12 November 1537 – Jane Seymour's remains moved to Windsor". The Tudor Society. Retrieved 1 October 2022.
^"The legacy of King George III". St George's Chapel. Retrieved 1 October 2022.
^"The Wolsey Chapel". St George's Chapel. Retrieved 1 October 2022.
^Baillie, Albert (13 February 1931). "The Restoration of St George's Chapel, Windsor". Journal of the Royal Society of Arts. 79 (4082): 306–319. JSTOR 41358709. Retrieved 1 October 2022.
^Hughes, H (17 October 2022). "Mahomet Thomas Phillips Part 2". University of Lincoln.
^Keay, Douglas (15 February 2002). "Princess Margaret's ashes to rest by her father". The Times. No. 67375. p. 3. Retrieved 14 September 2022.
^"Windsor Royal Beasts on St George's Chapel roof". Wordpress. 6 July 2008. Retrieved 10 October 2014.
^London, H. Stanford (1953). "The" Queen's Beasts: An Account with New Drawings of the Heraldic Animals Witch Stood at the Entrance to Westminster Abbey on the Occasion of the Coronation of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II., 2. June 1953. Newman Neame. p. 15.
^"Sir Frederick Minter". The Times. 15 July 1976. p. 19.
^Wridgway, Neville (1980). The Choristers of St George's Chapel. Chas. Luff & Co. p. 132.
^"Order of the Garter Timeline" (PDF). The Companion. 2015. p. 3. Retrieved 1 October 2022.
^"St George's Chapel Banners of Arms Hand-Painted by Flagmakers". Flagmakers. Retrieved 1 October 2022.
^"Register of Stall Plates in St George's Chapel" (PDF). The Companion. p. 18. Retrieved 1 October 2022.
^Lindley, Phillip (18 July 2013). "'Pickpurse' Purgatory, the Dissolution of the Chantries and the Suppression of Intercession for the Dead". Journal of the British Archaeological Association. 164: 277–304. doi:10.1179/174767011X13184281108289. S2CID 194045544. Retrieved 1 October 2022.
^Blackburne, Harry W. (2008). The Romance of St. George's Chapel, Windsor Castle. Wildside Press. pp. 14–. ISBN 978-1434474285.
^ abEleanor Cracknell (15 July 2011). "The Rutland Chantry". College of St George. Retrieved 19 May 2018.
^"The Roos Monument in the Rutland Chantry Chapel". St George's Chapel. Retrieved 1 October 2022.
^"Beryl Dean Panels". College of St George. Retrieved 28 October 2019.
^"Britain's Prince Edward, Sophie Rhys-Jones marry as royals look on". CNN. 19 June 1999. Retrieved 3 May 2011.
^"Royal marries in Windsor wedding". BBC News. 17 May 2008. Archived from the original on 18 May 2008. Retrieved 17 May 2008.
^Yeginsu, Ceylan (2 March 2018). "Prince Harry and Meghan Markle Invite Members of Public to Wedding Day". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 18 September 2022.
^Furness, Hannah; Horton, Helena (12 October 2018). "Prince Andrew says Princess Eugenie will have more guests at her wedding than Duke and Duchess of Sussex did". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 12 October 2018.
^"Royals at Lady Gabriella Windsor wedding". BBC News. Retrieved 4 December 2022.
^"Timetable of Royal wedding day, 9 April 2005". BBC News. Retrieved 28 April 2016.
^"Free stock images for genealogy and ancestry researchers". www.ancestryimages.com.
Sourcesedit
Begent, Peter J.; Chesshyre, Hubert; Chesshyre, D. H. B.; Jefferson, Lisa (1999). The most noble Order of the Garter: 650 years. Spink. ISBN 978-1902040202.
Keen, Laurence; Scarff, Eileen, eds. (2002). Windsor: medieval archaeology, art and architecture of the Thames Valley. British Archaeological Association. ISBN 978-1902653457.
Saul, Nigel, ed. (2005). St George's Chapel, Windsor, in the Fourteenth Century. Boydell Press. ISBN 978-1843831174.
Richmond, Colin; Scarff, Eileen, eds. (2001). St Georges Chapel, Windsor, in the late Middle Ages. Windsor: Maney Publishing. ISBN 978-0953967612.
External linksedit
Wikimedia Commons has media related to St. George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle.
Official website
St George's Chapel Archives & Chapter Library
Charity Commission website
Crests for the Knights of the Garter
A guide to the chapel
Report of Review Group on the Royal Peculiars 2009
Music manuscripts preserved in the Chapter Library