Royal Chapel of All Saints facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Royal Chapel of All Saints
Denomination	Church of England
Churchmanship	High church
Website	www.stgeorges-windsor.org
History
Dedication	All Saints
Administration
Deanery	Dean of Windsor
Province	None - royal peculiar

The Royal Chapel of All Saints, sometimes called Queen Victoria's Chapel, is a special church in England. It's found within the beautiful grounds of the Royal Lodge in Windsor Great Park, Berkshire. This chapel is a Grade II listed building, meaning it's historically important. It's also a "Royal Peculiar", which means it's directly connected to the King or Queen, not a bishop. The chapel serves as a local church for people living and working in Windsor Great Park. Members of the British royal family often attend services here. For example, Queen Elizabeth II regularly worshipped at this church because it offered privacy. One of the Canons from St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle serves as the chaplain for the Royal Chapel of All Saints.

History of the Royal Chapel

This chapel replaced older chapels at Royal Lodge and Cumberland Lodge. These earlier chapels were used by royal residents and their staff. By the 1820s, King George IV often stayed at Royal Lodge. He was busy updating Windsor Castle at the time. Because of this, a larger chapel was needed for his household and staff.

Building the Chapel

The chapel was built by Jeffry Wyatville. He was the main architect working on Windsor Castle for the King. The chapel was first used on Palm Sunday in 1825. Wyatville told the Treasury about the chapel's construction two weeks after it opened. He explained it was built without their permission, but as an "unavoidable necessity." Wyatville said the chapel was built "within an old building." This older building was likely a Porter's Lodge that was already on the site.

Early Years and Changes

The chapel needed repairs soon after it was built. More repairs were needed in late 1825 after the King tripped leaving his pew. When William IV became King, most of Royal Lodge was taken down. However, the chapel remained. It continued to hold services for the staff who worked in the Park.

Queen Victoria sometimes attended services at the chapel. She wrote about a visit in March 1842. She liked that "Everyone joined in the singing." She also enjoyed walking in the "very pretty" garden of Royal Lodge afterwards.

Royal Connections and Updates

Francis Seymour gave the chapel a new organ. This happened when he became the Marquess of Hertford. He had previously been in charge of the park. In 1905, a window was dedicated to Prince Christian Victor of Schleswig-Holstein. He was the son of Prince Christian and Princess Helena, who lived at Cumberland Lodge.

The Duke and Duchess of York lived at Royal Lodge starting in 1931. They became regular worshippers at the chapel. They kept visiting even after they became King George VI and Queen Elizabeth. King George VI updated the chapel. He added a new ceiling designed by Edward Maufe. He also replaced the pews and added a cover for the organ. This cover was designed by Harry Stuart Goodhart-Rendel.

After her husband's death, Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother returned to live at Royal Lodge. She regularly visited the chapel until she passed away there in 2002. Her coffin rested before the chapel's altar. It was then taken to London for her lying in state and funeral. Her daughter, Queen Elizabeth II, also attended services at the chapel often.

On July 17, 2020, Princess Beatrice married Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi at the chapel. This wedding was a private event. Buckingham Palace confirmed the marriage after it took place.

Artists have painted watercolours of the chapel. Henry Bryan Ziegler painted some in the 1830s. Hugh Casson also painted one in 1990.

Design of the Chapel

The outside of the chapel looks like a "fairly unremarkable exercise in neo-gothic." This style is called Gothic Revival architecture. It has been compared to another nearby church, St John the Baptist Church, Windsor. That church was designed in 1820 by Charles Hollis, with help from Wyatville.

Inside the Chapel

An old guidebook described the chapel as "a small structure fitted up with appropriate simplicity." It said the main decoration was the window above the altar. This window showed "our Saviour casting out devils." An organ, known as "Handel's organ," was put in the chapel shortly before King George IV died.

The seating inside the chapel was planned to show the different ranks of people attending. The Royal Pew was to the right of the altar. A pew for royal servants was next to it. Both of these pews shared a separate Royal Entrance. Across from the royal pews was a pew for the Deputy Surveyor of Woods. Pews in a side chapel on the left were for the Bailiff, the King's Farmer, and park keepers. Workers sat on the ground floor and first floor, using the chapel's Common Entrance. More seats were added in the 1840s. This was because more staff worked at Cumberland Lodge. Prince Albert approved the plans for these extra seats. Even more seating was added in the 1850s.

Chapel Enlargements

After Queen Victoria's mother, Victoria, Duchess of Kent, passed away in March 1861, Victoria and Albert wanted a window for the chapel's chancel in her memory. The chancel is the area around the altar. It was made larger at the same time. This work was designed by Samuel Sanders Teulon and Anthony Salvin. Teulon's changes added 46 seats to the chapel. The new chapel was officially blessed by the Bishop of Oxford, Samuel Wilberforce, in November 1863.

By 1865, the chapel needed even more seating. However, Charles Gore, the Commissioner of Woods, was not sure about hiring Teulon again. He felt Teulon's new chancel style did not match the older chapel building. Gore wrote that he would not have hired Teulon if he had known the whole building would be changed. He thought "churches built from his designs are too elaborated and fantastical." Gore worried that any "mistake is made in a building so much to be seen it will be an Eye-Sore instead of an Ornament to the park."

So, Salvin was chosen to design a new South Aisle. This part was finished in 1866. Queen Victoria thought the new chapel was "very pretty." The updated chapel could hold 225 people (180 adults with children). It has remained mostly the same since then.