St George's Chapel (Windsor Castle)

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The chapel from the south
Map of Windsor Castle: A: Round Tower ( Keep ) B: High Court (the "square") C: State Apartments D: Private apartments E: South Wing F: Lower courtyard G: St George's Chapel H: Horseshoe Cloister (Horseshoe Cloister) K: . gate King Henry VIII (main entrance) L: The Long way (The Long Walk) M: Norman gate N: North terrace O: tower of Edward III. T: bell tower (Curfew Tower)

The St George's Chapel is a Kollegiatstiftskirche in Windsor Castle in the UK . It is considered to be one of the major works of the Perpendicular Style . As Queen's Free Chapel , it is the private church of the British monarchs and serves as a chapel for the Order of the Garter and as a burial place for numerous members of the royal family. In addition, numerous weddings and baptisms of members of the royal family took place in the chapel.

history

As early as the first half of the 13th century, King Heinrich III. a chapel dedicated to St. Edward the Confessor at the site of the current building . On August 6, 1348, King Edward III donated. the collegiate monastery of St George at Windsor Castle . The monastery consisted of a dean and twelve canons , each with a vicar as a deputy. There were also four choir singers, six choirboys and two bell ringer , which means that the monastery had as many clergymen as the Sainte-Chapelle of the French kings in Paris. Edward III. had the existing chapel expanded and added that of the Virgin Mary and the English national saint George to the patronage . This military patron saint was established by the new purpose of the chapel, which now served as the chapel of the Knights of the Garter. This association of knights included the king as head of the 25 other knights who were represented in the daily service in the chapel by a deputy, a so-called poor knight . As a collegiate member of the Order of the Garter, the chapel was one of the most respected churches in medieval England. Around 1350 the King gave the Chapel the Cross of Gneth , a cross relic that had originally belonged to the Welsh princes of Gwynned . In 1351 Pope Clement VI declared. the chapel exemted by the Diocese of Salisbury and the Archbishops of Canterbury .

The wedding of Albert, Prince of Wales to Alexandra of Denmark on March 10, 1863. Painting by William Frith , 1865

In 1475 Edward IV began building a new chapel in which he was buried after his death. Nevertheless, construction progressed slowly at first. By 1484, only the choir without the vault was completed. In 1503 Sir Reginald Bray , who had donated considerable sums in his will for the further construction of the chapel, was buried in the south transept. This foundation enabled the construction of the nave to be completed around 1511. Henry VIII had the Lady Chapel completed by 1522 , which was originally intended as a burial chapel for Henry VII, but which was then buried in Westminster Abbey . The construction of the chapel was completed around 1528. The monastery chapter was not dissolved during the Reformation and continued after the dissolution during the English Civil War in the 17th century. The number of Poor Knights had been reduced to thirteen by Henry VIII, and since 1833 they have been called the Military Knights of Windsor . At the end of the 18th century, Georg III. Restoration work on the chapel. Between 1804 and 1810 a royal tomb was built under the former Lady Chapel, which now serves as a burial chapel . Under Victoria I , Thomas Willement restored the stained glass windows of the chapel between 1841 and 1861 and added to them. In the period from 1863 to 1867 the chapel was extensively restored by Sir Gilbert Scott and the Lady Chapel was converted into the Albert Memorial Chapel . Another restoration of the chapel took place between 1920 and 1930 by Sir Harold Brakspear . In 1969 the last extension was the King George VI Memorial Chapel on the north aisle.

In addition to the Cathedral Churches and Westminster Abbey , the chapel is today (2018) the only church in Great Britain with a chapter of secular canons . The chapter consists of a dean and six other members.

investment

Exterior

The free-standing, towerless St George's Chapel dominates the Lower Ward of Windsor Castle. Although officially chapel rank, at 237  feet (about 72 m) in length it is the size of some cathedrals . The building made of light sandstone is considered one of the main works of the late Perpendicular Style. The exterior is characterized by the large windows and the ornate buttresses . The flat roof is not visible, instead the building is completed by a parapet with pinnacles , which represent the heraldic animals of the Houses of Lancaster and York, such as the falcon, deer, dragon and other animals. The pronounced transept is located in the middle of the chapel, so that the main nave and the choir room each have seven bays . Both the main nave and the choir room have two low aisles , in the east the choir room is continued by a single-nave former Lady Chapel with a polygonal finish.

View from the choir to the vault of the main nave

Interior

Inside of the chapel with a view of the west window

The interior of the church, which is bright through the large windows, impresses with the richly structured fan vault . Of the chapel's furnishings, the splendid oak-carved choir stalls for the knights of the Order of the Garter, over which the banners of the current members hang, as well as the coats of arms of over 700 former members of the order are particularly noteworthy. The over 9 m high and almost 9 m wide west window is one of the largest stained glass windows in Great Britain, the majority of the 75 stained glass dates from the early 16th century. The chapel contains the graves of ten kings, numerous other members of the royal family and other members of the high nobility. One of the most elaborate grave monuments is the grave memorial created by Matthew Cotes Wyatt for Princess Charlotte in Urswick Chapel . The Albert Memorial Chapel was richly adorned with marble, mosaics, sculptures and stained glass in the neo-Gothic style in the 19th century .

Grave sites (selection)

organ

The organ of St George's Chapel was built at the beginning of the 20th century by the organ builder Walter & Sons and was last extensively restored in 2002 by the organ builders Harrison & Harrison and equipped with a new playing system. The instrument has 71 stops on four manuals and a pedal .

Pedals C – g 1
1. Sub bourdon 32 ′
2. Open diapason 16 ′
3. Bourdon 16 ′
4th Dulciana 16 ′
5. Quintadena 16 ′
6th Principal 8th'
7th Flood 8th'
8th. Dulciana 8th'
9. Fifteenth 4 ′
10. Pipe flute 4 ′
11. Open flute 2 ′
12. Mixture IV
13. Double trombone 32 ′
14th Trombones 16 ′
15th Fagotto 16 ′
16. Tromba 8th'
17th Bassoon 8th'
18th Octave Tromba 4 ′
19th shawm 4 ′
20th Kornet 2 ′
I choir organ C – c 4
In the North case
21st Quintadena 8th'
22nd Dumped 8th'
23. Principal 4 ′
24. High tide 4 ′
25th Forest flood 2 ′
26th Sesquialtera
27. Cimbel III
28. Krummhorn 8th'
Tremulant

On the screen
29 diapason 8th'
30th Lovely tide 8th'
31. Octave 4 ′
32. Lovely tide 4 ′
33. Super octave 2 ′
34. Mixture IV
35. Trumpets 8th'
II main work C – c 4
36. Double diapason 16 ′
37. Open Diapason I 8th'
38. Open Diapason II 8th'
39. Stopped diapason 8th'
40. Principal 4 ′
41. Open flute 4 ′
42. Fifteenth 2 ′
43. Block flute 2 ′
44. Cornet II-V
45. Mixture IV
46. Double trumpet 16 ′
47. Trumpet 8th'
48. Clarion 4 ′
III Swell C – c 4
49. Quintadena 16 ′
50. Violin diapason 8th'
51. Lovely Gedackt 8th'
52. Echo gamba 8th'
53. Voix Celeste 8th'
54. Principal 4 ′
55. Pipe flood 4 ′
56. Nazard 2 2 ⁄ 3  ′
57. Fifteenth 2 ′
58. Tierce 1 3 ⁄ 5  ′
59. Mixture IV
60. oboe 8th'
61. Vox Humana 8th'
62. Contra fagotto 16 ′
63. Cornopean 8th'
64. Clarion 4 ′
Tremulant
IV Solo work C – c 4
65. Cor de Nuit 8th'
66. Concert flute 4 ′
67. Viole d'Orchestre 8th'
68. Viole Celeste 8th'
69. Corno di Bassetto 8th'
70. Orchestral oboe 8th'
71. Orchestral trumps 8th'
72. Orchestral Clarion 4 ′
Tremulant
  • Couple
    • Normal coupling: I / II, III / I, III / II, IV / I, IV / II, IV / III, I / P, II / P, III / P, IV / P
    • Sub-octave coupling: IV / IV
    • Super octave coupling: III / III, IV / IV
    • Special coupling: Unison off, tongues and cornet (II) / IV

More buildings

To the north of the chapel are the buildings that were built between 1350 and 1357 to house the canons, as well as the Common Hall, built for the vicars in the early 15th century . This building houses the monastery archive and library. The so-called Horseshoe Cloister at the west end of the chapel because of its shape was built for the vicars between 1478 and 1481.

literature

Web links

Commons : St. George's Chapel, Windsor Castle  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Nikolaus Pevsner: The Buildings of England. Berkshire. Penguin, London 1966, p. 24.
  2. ↑ a b c A short History of St George's. Retrieved May 3, 2018 .
  3. ↑ a b c d e f St George's Timeline. Retrieved May 3, 2018 .
  4. ^ A b Nikolaus Pevsner: The Buildings of England. Berkshire. Penguin, London 1966, p. 268.
  5. ^ The Dean & Canons of Windsor. Retrieved March 25, 2018 .
  6. ^ Nikolaus Pevsner: The Buildings of England. Berkshire. Penguin, London 1966, p. 269.
  7. ↑ 360 ° Virtual Tour of The Nave of St George's Chapel. Retrieved May 3, 2018 .
  8. ^ Royal Burials. Retrieved May 3, 2018 .
  9. ↑ Information on the organ. Retrieved May 3, 2018 (Italian).

Coordinates: 51 ° 29 ′ 1.5 ″  N , 0 ° 36 ′ 24.4 ″  W.