Church of St Peter ad Vincula facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Church of St Peter ad Vincula |
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Side of St Peter chapel that faces
the place of execution on Tower Green |
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 Church of St Peter ad Vincula
Location in City of London
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| 51°30′31″N 0°4′37″W / 51.50861°N 0.07694°W | |
| Location | Tower Hamlets, London |
| Country | England |
| Denomination | Originally Catholic, now Church of England |
| History | |
| Status | Active |
| Architecture | |
| Years built | 1519–20 |
| Administration | |
| Diocese | Royal Peculiar |
The Chapel Royal of St Peter ad Vincula is a special church within the Tower of London. Its name, "St Peter ad Vincula," means "St Peter in chains." This refers to the Bible story of Saint Peter being freed from prison.
This chapel is located inside the Tower's walls. The building you see today was built in 1520. However, a church likely stood here much earlier, possibly in the 1100s. It was the second chapel built in the Tower. The first was St John's, a smaller royal chapel inside the White Tower.
St Peter's Chapel is a royal peculiar. This means it is directly under the control of the monarch, not a bishop. The priest in charge is called the chaplain of the Tower.
At the west end of St Peter's Chapel, there is a short tower with a small bell tower on top. Inside, the church has a main area called a nave and a smaller side section called a north aisle. The windows have pretty pointed arches, typical of the Tudor period.
The Chapel is most famous as the burial place for many well-known prisoners. These include Queen Anne Boleyn and Queen Catherine Howard, both wives of King Henry VIII. Also buried here are Lady Jane Grey, who was queen for just nine days, and Sir Thomas More.
Contents
History of the Chapel
We don't know exactly when or where the first chapel was built. The chapel has been destroyed, rebuilt, moved, and updated many times over the centuries.
Some historians believe the chapel was founded even before the Norman conquest of England in 1066. They think it might have been a local church before the area became a fortress. Others think King Henry I (who ruled from 1100 to 1135) founded it. It might have been officially opened on August 1, 1110. This date is special because it celebrates St Peter in Chains.
The first chapel was likely outside the Tower's original walls. This allowed the king to be seen worshiping in public. It was different from the more private St John's Chapel. That chapel was built around 1080 by William I inside the White Tower.
St Peter ad Vincula was a local church for about 100 years. Then, in the mid-1200s, during the reign of King Henry III, it became the main chapel for people living in the Tower. An underground room, or crypt, was built under the church around this time.
By 1241, King Henry III ordered improvements to the "church of St Peter within the walls of our Tower of London." This shows that the chapel was now inside the Tower's defenses. This building had two main altar areas, one for St Mary and one for St Peter. The St Peter area had special seats for the Royal family. There were also two other altars for St Nicholas and St Katherine.
During King Henry III's time, the church also had a small, enclosed room for a religious recluse. King Henry III even paid for the living expenses of several recluses who lived there. After 1312, important ceremonies for the Knights of the Bath were likely held in the church.
The name "St Peter ad Vincula" has a special meaning for the Tower. It refers to St Peter being freed from prison. The first prisoner of the Tower, Ranulf Flambard, was put in jail by Henry I in 1100. This connection to imprisonment makes the chapel's name very fitting for the Tower.
The Chapel You See Today
The current building was rebuilt for King Henry VIII. This happened between 1519 and 1520. A fire had destroyed the old church in 1512. Sir Sir Richard Cholmondeley, who was in charge of the Tower at the time, oversaw the rebuilding. The new chapel was probably designed by William Vertue.
The Tower's Church
St Peter ad Vincula was the church for the area known as Tower Within. This area was special because it was outside the normal parish system. In 1729, the church was added to the "Bills of Mortality," which recorded burials in London. But it was removed in 1730 because the people living there successfully argued it was a special area.
Later, in the 1800s, these special areas were changed. In 1858, Tower Within became a regular civil parish. In 1901, it became part of the nearby St Botolph without Aldgate parish.
The Chapel is also the special church for The Royal Regiment of Fusiliers. This regiment has a long history with the Tower of London, going back to 1685. Officers of the regiment can still get married there today.
Burials and Memorials
The church has many beautiful memorials. In the north-west corner, there is a memorial for John Holland, Duke of Exeter. He was in charge of the Tower and died in 1447. In the middle of the church, you can find the statue of Sir Richard Cholmondeley. He died in 1521, the year after he finished rebuilding the church.
In the main altar area, there is a grand memorial to Sir Richard Blount (died 1564) and his son Sir Michael (died 1610). Both were Lieutenants of the Tower during the Tudor period. They would have seen many of the executions that took place there. The church also has a beautiful 17th-century organ. It is decorated with amazing carvings by Grinling Gibbons.
The church is famous as the burial place of many well-known Tower prisoners. These include:
- Queen Anne Boleyn (1536)
- George Boleyn, Anne's brother (1536)
- Thomas Cromwell, King Henry VIII's minister (1540)
- Queen Catherine Howard (1542)
- Thomas Seymour, 1st Baron Seymour of Sudeley (1549)
- Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset (1552)
- Lady Jane Grey, who was Queen for nine days (1554)
- Lord Guildford Dudley, Lady Jane Grey's husband (1554)
- John Dudley, 1st Duke of Northumberland (1553)
- Sir Thomas More (1535)
- Bishop John Fisher (1535)
- James Scott, 1st Duke of Monmouth (1685)
Sir Thomas More and Bishop John Fisher were later recognized as saints by the Roman Catholic Church. Philip Howard, another saint from the Tudor period, was also buried here for a time. His body was later moved to Arundel.
A list of "remarkable persons" buried in the chapel between 1534 and 1747 is on a table on the west wall. The historian Thomas Babington Macaulay wrote about those buried here in his 1848 book, History of England. He described it as a very sad place. He noted that it was not like other famous burial sites. Instead, it was a place where people who had fallen from power were buried. They were often brought there by jailers, with no one to mourn them.
During renovation work in 1876, three burials were found. They were identified as Anne Boleyn, Margaret Pole, Countess of Salisbury, and John Dudley, 1st Duke of Northumberland.
Chapel Royal Status
The Church of St Peter ad Vincula is a Chapel Royal. This means it is a special church that serves the monarch directly. The priest in charge is the chaplain of the Tower of London. This role was stopped in 1685 but brought back in 2012. The Reverend Roger Hall, MBE, became a canon (a type of priest) that same year.
You can visit the chapel as part of a special tour of the Tower of London. You can also attend the regular Sunday morning service.
