St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle

==History==
===Development of the building===
[[File:WindsorLowerBaileyJosephNash1848 edited.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|left|St George's Chapel (left) at Windsor Castle in 1848, showing the absence of the [[The Queen's Beasts|Queen's Beasts]] on the [[pinnacle]]s (since replaced). Watercolour by [[Joseph Nash]]]]

In 1348, [[Edward III of England|King Edward III]] founded two religious colleges: [[St Stephen's Chapel|St Stephen's]] at [[Westminster]] and St George's at Windsor. The new college at Windsor was attached to the Chapel of [[Edward the Confessor|St Edward the Confessor]] which had been constructed by [[Henry III of England|Henry III]] in the early thirteenth century. The chapel was then re-dedicated to the [[Mary, mother of Jesus|Blessed Virgin Mary]], [[Saint George|George the Martyr]] and [[Edward the Confessor]], but soon became known only by its dedication to St George.<ref name=Victoria>{{cite book|chapter=Collegiate churches: Windsor (St George's chapel)|title=A History of the County of Berkshire: Volume 2|editor1=P H Ditchfield |editor2=William Page|publisher= Victoria County History|year=1907|page=106|url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/berks/vol2/pp106-112}}</ref> Edward III also built the [[Aerary]] Porch in 1353–54.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.stgeorges-windsor.org/tour/tour_aerary.asp |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060915035637/http://www.stgeorges-windsor.org/tour/tour_aerary.asp |archive-date=2006-09-15 |title=The Aerary Porch|publisher=St. George's Chapel website|access-date=1 October 2022}}</ref>
[[File:Windsor Castle, Quire of St George's, by Charles Wild, 1818 - royal coll 922115 257036 ORI 0.jpg|right|thumb| The [[Choir (architecture)|Choir]] of St George's Chapel, by [[Charles Wild]], from [[William Henry Pyne|W. H. Pyne]]'s ''Royal Residences'', 1818]]
[[File:Windsor horseshoe cloister 01.JPG|thumb|left|upright|alt=A close-up photograph of a building made with black timbers and red brick. The building has four tall, brick chimneys. A relatively modern drainpipe comes down the middle of the building.|The 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 of England|Edward IV]] and continued by [[Henry VII of England|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)|Richard Beauchamp]], [[Bishop of Salisbury]], and the master mason, Henry Janyns.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PIIlDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA216|title=Art in England: The Saxons to the Tudors: 600–1600|first= Sara N. |last=James|year=2016|page=216|publisher=Oxbow Books|isbn=978-1785702266}}</ref>

The Chapel suffered a great deal of destruction during the [[English Civil War]]. [[Roundhead|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 of England|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 [[Jane Seymour|Queen Jane]] (née Seymour).<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.tudorsociety.com/12-november-1537-jane-seymours-remains-moved-to-windsor/|title=12 November 1537 – Jane Seymour's remains moved to Windsor|publisher=The Tudor Society| access-date=1 October 2022}}</ref>

During his life and reign, [[George III|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.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.stgeorges-windsor.org/image_of_the_month/the-legacy-of-king-george-iii/|title=The legacy of King George III|publisher=St George's Chapel| access-date=1 October 2022}}</ref>

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 [[Albert, Prince Consort|Prince Albert]]. The Lady Chapel, which had been abandoned by Henry VII, was completed and renamed the Albert Memorial Chapel.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.stgeorges-windsor.org/image_of_the_month/the-wolsey-chapel/  |title=The Wolsey Chapel|publisher=St George's Chapel| access-date=1 October 2022}}</ref>

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]].<ref>{{cite journal|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/41358709|title=The Restoration of St George's Chapel, Windsor|journal= Journal of the Royal Society of Arts|volume=79|date=13 February 1931|pages=306–319|jstor=41358709 |access-date=1 October 2022|last1=Baillie |first1=Albert |issue=4082 }}</ref> As part of this programme, [[Mahomet Thomas Phillips]] – an Anglo-Congolese sculptor – produced a falcon and a unicorn in 1923.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last=Hughes |first=H |date=17 October 2022 |title=Mahomet Thomas Phillips Part 2 |url=https://reimagininglincs.blogs.lincoln.ac.uk/2022/10/17/mahomet-thomas-phillips-part-2/ |website=University of Lincoln}}</ref>

The [[King George VI Memorial Chapel]] was constructed in 1969 between the Rutland Chapel and the north choir of St George's Chapel to a design by [[George Pace]].<ref name=Times02>{{cite news|last1=Keay|first1=Douglas|title=Princess Margaret's ashes to rest by her father|url=https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/IF0501475187/TTDA?u=wes_ttda&sid=bookmark-TTDA&xid=a9eafb8a|accessdate=14 September 2022|work=[[The Times]]|issue=67375|date=15 February 2002|page=3}}</ref>
[[File:WindsorCastlePano-Wyrdlight.jpg|thumb|centre|700px|St George's Chapel in the Lower Ward at centre right, partially behind tree]]

===The Royal Beasts===
[[File:St Georges Chapel Windsor 02.jpg|thumb|The [[King's Beasts, St George's Chapel|Royal Beasts]] shown atop the pinnacles]]
On the roof of the chapel, standing on the pinnacles, and also on pinnacles at the sides, are seventy-six heraldic statues representing the [[King's Beasts, St George's Chapel|Royal Beasts]]. They represent fourteen of the heraldic animals: the [[Lion (heraldry)|lion]] of [[Kingdom of England|England]], the [[Welsh Dragon|red dragon]] of [[Principality of Wales|Wales]], the [[Panthera|panther]] of [[Jane Seymour]], the [[falcon]] of [[House of York|York]], the black bull of [[Duke of Clarence|Clarence]], the [[Yale (mythical creature)|yale]] of [[Duke of Beaufort|Beaufort]], the white lion of [[Mortimer]], the [[White Greyhound of Richmond|greyhound of Richmond]], the white [[Hart (deer)|hart]] of [[Richard II of England|Richard II]], the collared silver [[antelope]] of [[Bohun family|Bohun]], the black dragon of [[Ulster]], the [[Bohun swan|white swan]] of [[Hereford]], the [[unicorn]] of Edward III and the golden [[Deer|hind]] of [[Kent]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://inel.wordpress.com/2008/07/06/windsor-royal-beasts-on-st-georges-chapel-roof/|title=Windsor Royal Beasts on St George's Chapel roof|date=6 July 2008|publisher=Wordpress|access-date=10 October 2014}}</ref>

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.<ref name="London1953">{{cite book|last= London|first=H. Stanford|title="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|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2288swEACAAJ|year=1953|publisher=Newman Neame|page=15}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Sir Frederick Minter |work=[[The Times]] |page= 19 |date= 15 July 1976}}</ref>

===The choir of St George's Chapel===
The [[Choir of St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle|choristers of St George's Chapel]] are boarders at [[St George's School, Windsor Castle]].<ref>{{cite book|title=The Choristers of St George's Chapel |first=Neville |last=Wridgway |publisher=Chas. Luff & Co. |date=1980 |page=132}}</ref>