St George's Chapel (left) at Windsor Castle in 1848, showing the absence of the Queen's Beasts on the pinnacles (since replaced). Watercolour by Joseph Nash
The Choir of St George's Chapel, by Charles Wild, from W. H. Pyne's Royal Residences, 1818The Horseshoe Cloister, built in 1480 and reconstructed in the 19th century
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]
Emblem of the Order of the GarterMembers of the public outside St George's Chapel at Windsor Castle, waiting for the Garter Procession
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]
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]
AGarter 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]
Tierceron-lierne vaulting of the choir and fan vaulting of the crossing of St George's Chapel, with the Garter banners on either side below
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]
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]
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]
