St George’s Chapel, Windsor: Royal Chapel and Home of the Order of the Garter
Site at a Glance
- Rating
- 4.8
- Popularity
- Medium
- Country
- United Kingdom
- Primary era
- Medieval
- External website
- Open
- Eras represented
- Medieval, Early Modern, Modern
- Civilizations
- British, English
- Site type
- Religious
- Remains
- Chapel
On this page15 sections
History
St George’s Chapel is an active Church of England chapel in Windsor Castle, United Kingdom, built and developed by English monarchs from the thirteenth century onward. It is the King’s Free Chapel of the College of St George, a Royal Peculiar under the direct jurisdiction of the monarch rather than a diocesan bishop, and the chapel of the Order of the Garter. It stands in the Lower Ward on the castle’s north side and assumed its present late-medieval Perpendicular Gothic character during a major rebuilding between 1475 and 1528.
Foundation of the College
King Edward III founded the College of St George at Windsor in 1348. The new institution was attached to the earlier Chapel of St Edward the Confessor, which Henry III had built in the early thirteenth century. The chapel was rededicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary, St George the Martyr, and St Edward the Confessor, although it soon became known chiefly as St George’s Chapel.
Edward III also founded the Order of the Garter, the highest order of chivalry in the British honours system. St George’s Chapel became the order’s institutional and religious centre. Its annual Garter Service continues to bring members of the order to Windsor Castle each June. George VI revived the service in 1948 for the six-hundredth anniversary of the order’s foundation, and it has continued annually.
The Aerary Porch, built in 1353–54, provided an entrance to the new college. The enlarged institution supported a substantial religious and musical community. Its lesser members included 16 vicars, an evangelical deacon, 13 lay clerks, two epistolary clerks, and 13 choristers. The College of St George still administers the chapel through its dean and canons, assisted by a clerk, verger, and other staff. The St George’s Chapel Choir also survives, with 20 members who board at St George’s School, Windsor Castle.
Late-medieval rebuilding
A radical redevelopment began under Edward IV in 1475 and continued through the reigns of Henry VII and Henry VIII. Sir Reginald Bray, Henry VII’s counsellor, was involved in the work, while Richard Beauchamp, Bishop of Salisbury, and the master mason Henry Janyns directed the enlargement of the earlier chapel into a cathedral-like space. The principal construction belongs to the period 1475–1511, within the wider redevelopment that continued until 1528.
The rebuilding created a large Perpendicular Gothic chapel, a style of late-medieval English architecture known for its strong vertical lines, broad windows, elaborate vaulting, and extensive stone tracery. It also provided a horseshoe-shaped cloister and accommodation for the college community. Medieval chantries, religious foundations established to secure prayers and services for their founders and families, added dedicated altars, memorial spaces, and priests to the developing complex.
St George’s Chapel became a major pilgrimage destination in the later Middle Ages. Belief centred on important burials and a fragment of the True Cross. The relic was associated with a reliquary called the Cross of Neith, a container intended to preserve and display a religious relic. Tradition held that Edward I had taken it from Wales after the conquest of Welsh territory. The burial traditions and relic were connected with the east end of the south choir.
Civil War, royal burial, and restoration
Parliamentary forces broke into and plundered the chapel and treasury on 23 October 1642 during the English Civil War, the conflict between supporters of Parliament and the monarchy from 1642 to 1651. Further pillage in 1643 destroyed the fifteenth-century chapter house, stripped lead from the roofs, and removed elements of Henry VIII’s unfinished funeral monument. In 1648, during the Commonwealth that followed the Civil War, the chapel’s metalwork was sold to help pay for the garrisoning of Windsor Castle.
After his execution in 1649, Charles I was buried in a small vault at the centre of the choir. His coffin was placed alongside those of Henry VIII and Jane Seymour. The chapel was repaired after the Restoration, when the monarchy was re-established, and its royal associations continued to grow.
George III renewed royal interest in Windsor Castle after the accession of the House of Hanover in 1714. On 12 August 1776, the royal family attended Sunday morning worship at the chapel for the first time and referred to it as “the Cathedral.” George III inspired and largely funded an extensive restoration between 1780 and 1790.
Victorian and twentieth-century changes
During Queen Victoria’s reign, the east end of the choir was remodelled in memory of Prince Albert. The abandoned Lady Chapel was completed and renamed the Albert Memorial Chapel, and a Royal Vault was constructed beneath it. Steps were also added at the west end to form a ceremonial entrance. The chapel and the nearby Frogmore Gardens became preferred burial places for members of the British royal family, taking the place previously held by Westminster Abbey for many royal interments.
By the early twentieth century, structural movement had caused bowing walls and cracked vaults, while stonework had decayed and lead had been stripped from the roofs. A ten-year restoration began in 1920 under the consulting architect Sir Harold Brakspear. The work repaired the roofs, vaults, walls, and stonework. The heraldic statues now standing on the roof date from this restoration period, and Mahomet Thomas Phillips produced a falcon and unicorn for the programme in 1923.
The Society of the Friends of St George’s and Descendants of the Knights of the Garter was established in 1931 to assist the College of St George in maintaining the chapel. In 1969, George Pace designed the King George VI Memorial Chapel between the Rutland Chapel and the north choir. George VI was moved there from the Royal Vault after its completion.
St George’s Chapel has remained a setting for royal services, weddings, funerals, and burials. Royal weddings held there include those of Edward, Prince of Wales, and Alexandra of Denmark in 1863; Princess Helena and Prince Christian of Schleswig-Holstein in 1866; Princess Louise and the Marquess of Lorne in 1871; Prince Arthur and Princess Louise Margaret of Prussia in 1879; and Prince Edward and Sophie Rhys-Jones in 1999. Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, and Princess Eugenie and Jack Brooksbank, married there in 2018, while Lady Gabriella Windsor and Thomas Kingston married there in 2019. Charles, then Prince of Wales, and Camilla Parker Bowles received an archiepiscopal blessing at the chapel after their marriage in 2005.
The chapel was listed as a Grade I building in 1975 and has a stated capacity of about 800 people. Its royal and institutional functions remain closely connected with the surviving memorials, chapels, choir stalls, and burial places within the building.
Royal burials
Royal burials at the altar include George Plantagenet, Duke of Bedford, buried on 22 March 1479; Mary of York, buried in 1482; Edward IV, buried in 1483; Henry VI, reburied from Chertsey Abbey in 1484; Elizabeth Woodville, buried on 12 June 1492; Princess Louise of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, buried in 1832; Edward VII, buried on 20 May 1910; and Alexandra of Denmark, buried on 28 November 1925. Two unidentified children are also buried there and have traditionally been suggested to be Edward V and Richard of Shrewsbury, the Princes in the Tower.
The choir contains Jane Seymour, buried in 1537, Henry VIII, buried in 1547, Charles I, buried in 1649, and the stillborn son of Anne, Queen of Great Britain, and Prince George of Denmark, buried in 1698. Other burials include Charles Brandon, 1st Duke of Suffolk, in 1545; Christopher Villiers, 1st Earl of Anglesey, in 1631; William Hastings, 1st Baron Hastings, in the north aisle; and Dejazmatch Alemayehu Tewodros, son of Tewodros II of Ethiopia, who was buried on 21 November 1879.
The Royal Vault contains the remains of Princess Amelia, George III, George IV, William IV, Queen Charlotte, Adelaide of Saxe-Meiningen, Prince Frederick, Duke of York and Albany, and other members of the Hanoverian and British royal families. Princess Charlotte of Wales and her stillborn son were buried there in 1817, while Prince Edward, Duke of Kent and Strathearn, Prince Alfred, and Prince Octavius were buried there in 1820. Later interments included George V of Hanover in 1878, Princess Mary Adelaide of Cambridge in 1897, Francis, Duke of Teck, in 1900, and Princess Frederica of Hanover in 1926. Prince Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge, and Princess Augusta of Hesse-Kassel were reburied there in 1930.
George V and Mary of Teck were buried near the west door in 1936 and 1953. The King George VI Memorial Chapel contains George VI, moved there on 26 March 1969 after an initial burial in the Royal Vault on 15 February 1952; Princess Margaret, whose ashes were placed there in 2002; Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, buried there in 2002; Prince Philip, moved there in 2022 after temporary burial in the Royal Vault in 2021; and Elizabeth II, buried there in 2022.
The Albert Memorial Chapel contains Victoria, Baroness von Pawel-Rammingen, Prince Leopold, Duke of Albany, and Prince Albert Victor, Duke of Clarence and Avondale. The Gloucester Vault contains Prince William Henry, Duke of Gloucester and Edinburgh; Maria Walpole, Duchess of Gloucester and Edinburgh; Prince William Frederick, Duke of Gloucester and Edinburgh; Princess Sophia of Gloucester; and Princess Mary, Duchess of Gloucester and Edinburgh.
Some royal burials were later transferred elsewhere. Prince Albert was moved to the Frogmore Royal Mausoleum in 1862, and Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld was moved to the Duchess of Kent’s Mausoleum in 1861. Numerous British and European royals were transferred mainly to the Frogmore Royal Burial Ground between 1928 and 1968. Alexander Duff and Louise, Princess Royal, were moved to St Ninian’s Chapel, Braemar; Princess Beatrice to St Mildred’s Church, Whippingham; and Princess Alice of Battenberg to the Church of Mary Magdalene in Jerusalem in 1988.
Remains
Layout and medieval fabric
St George’s Chapel occupies the Lower Ward of Windsor Castle and is organized around the enlarged thirteenth-century chapel, the college buildings, and a horseshoe-shaped cloister. Its surviving fabric is principally late-medieval Perpendicular Gothic. The west end has a flight of steps forming a ceremonial entrance, while the roofs, vaults, walls, and stonework preserve the effects of the substantial twentieth-century repairs undertaken after structural movement, cracked vaulting, decayed stone, and the loss of roof lead.
The building retains medieval chantry features, including altars and small memorial chapels connected with monarchs, courtiers, deans, canons, and the college’s founder. The sanctuary gates and door locks were made by the medieval Cornish metalsmith John Tresilian. A small vault at the centre of the choir held Charles I, Henry VIII, and Jane Seymour, while the wider complex includes the Royal Vault, Gloucester Vault, private Rutland Chapel, and private Beaufort Chapel.
Chantries and memorial chapels
Rutland Chantry
The Rutland Chantry forms the chapel’s northern transept. Founded in 1491 for Sir Thomas St Leger and Anne of York, it contains a monumental brass on its east wall recording a chantry with two priests singing perpetually. The tomb of George Manners and Anne Manners is a major feature of the chapel. Their effigies are carved in English alabaster. Anne was the daughter of Anne of York and Sir Thomas St Leger, and the chapel later acquired its name through the family’s descent to the earls of Rutland.
Five embroidered panels in the Rutland Chantry depict the Annunciation, Visitation, Adoration of the Magi, the Temptations of Christ in the wilderness, and the Miracle at Cana. Beryl Dean was commissioned to produce them, and the work took five years. One panel is normally displayed, while the others may be viewed on request.
Albert Memorial Chapel
The Albert Memorial Chapel occupies the former Lady Chapel at the east end of St George’s Chapel. Completed and renamed during Queen Victoria’s reign in memory of Prince Albert, it contains the burials of Victoria, Baroness von Pawel-Rammingen, Prince Leopold, Duke of Albany, and Prince Albert Victor, Duke of Clarence and Avondale. The Royal Vault lies beneath the chapel.
King George VI Memorial Chapel
George Pace designed the King George VI Memorial Chapel, constructed in 1969 between the Rutland Chapel and the north choir. The memorial chapel contains George VI, Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, Princess Margaret, Prince Philip, and Elizabeth II. George VI was transferred there from the Royal Vault after the chapel was completed, while Prince Philip was moved there in 2022 following his temporary burial in the Royal Vault in 2021.
Other burial chapels and vaults
The Gloucester Vault contains the remains of members of the Gloucester family, including Prince William Henry, Duke of Gloucester and Edinburgh, Maria Walpole, Duchess of Gloucester and Edinburgh, Prince William Frederick, Duke of Gloucester and Edinburgh, Princess Sophia of Gloucester, and Princess Mary, Duchess of Gloucester and Edinburgh. The private Beaufort Chapel contains Henry Somerset, 1st Duke of Beaufort, and his ancestors. The original monument to Henry Somerset was moved from the chapel to St Michael and All Angels Church at Badminton in 1878. The private Rutland Chapel contains the tomb of Anne Manners and George Manners.
Choir and heraldic features
The choir stalls display the heraldic devices of members of the Order of the Garter. Each member’s sword is placed beneath a helmet with mantling and a crest, coronet, or crown, while a heraldic banner hangs above. An enamelled brass Garter stall plate gives the member’s name, arms, and other inscriptions. After a member dies, the sword, helmet, mantling, crest, coronet or crown, and banner are removed following a commemorative service. The stall plate remains fixed, creating a lasting historical collection within the choir.
Seventy-six heraldic statues stand on the roof pinnacles and on pinnacles at the chapel’s sides. They represent fourteen Royal Beasts, animals used symbolically in heraldry. The group includes the lion of England, the red dragon of Wales, the panther of Jane Seymour, the falcon of York, the black bull of Clarence, the yale of Beaufort, the white lion of Mortimer, the greyhound of Richmond, the white hart of Richard II, the collared silver antelope of Bohun, the black dragon of Ulster, the white swan of Hereford, the unicorn of Edward III, and the golden hind of Kent.
The original Royal Beasts dated from the sixteenth century and were removed in 1682 after Sir Christopher Wren criticised the Reigate Stone, a calcareous sandstone used to make them. The statues now on the chapel date from 1925. Together with the Garter plates, the roof sculpture preserves the ceremonial and dynastic associations that have connected the chapel with the order and the monarchy since the Middle Ages.
Relic and surviving memorial objects
The chapel’s surviving objects include the fragment of the True Cross associated with the Cross of Neith reliquary, the Rutland Chantry’s monumental brass, the alabaster effigies of George and Anne Manners, the iron sanctuary gates, and the medieval door locks. These features belong to the chapel’s religious, commemorative, and institutional fabric, alongside the choir’s Garter stall plates and the heraldic sculpture restored on the roof in the twentieth century.
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