Savoy Chapel
| King's Chapel of the Savoy | |
|
Westminster, Middlesex | |
|---|---|
| Status: | Chapel |
 The Savoy Chapel | |
| Church of England | |
| (Royal peculiar) | |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | TQ30578075 |
| Location: | 51°30’38"N, 0°7’12"W |
| History | |
| Built 1512 | |
| Tudor; Perpendicular | |
| Information | |
| Website: | royalchapelsavoy.org |
The King's Chapel of the Savoy, or the Savoy Chapel, is a church within the Precinct of the Savoy, a distinct estate belonging to the Duchy of Lancaster which is found on the north bank of the River Thames between the two great cities of Middlesex; the City of London and Westminster. The precinct and the chapel are just south of the Strand, and next to the Savoy Hotel.
The church is a royal peculiar, a church belonging to the King in right of the Duchy of Lancaster and outside the jurisdiction of the Diocese of London.
In the Middle Ages, a chapel was built here as part of the main church of the Savoy Palace (later the Savoy Hospital). The ancient hospital had fallen into ruin by the 19th century; only the chapel survived the consequent demolition, which enabled the construction of an approach road at the north of Waterloo Bridge.
The chapel is today designated as a Grade II* listed building.[1]
History
The chapel was founded as part of the palace of Peter of Savoy, uncle of Queen Eleanor (Eleanor of Provence). Later the estate was acquired by Queen Eleanor herself and granted to her second son, Edmund, Earl of Lancaster, and became part of the lands of the Earldom, and later Duchy of Lancaster, which duchy has been united to the Crown since Henry of Lancaster became King Henry IV). As part of the Duchy, the Savoy retained a number of privileges and exemptions from the civil and ecclesiastical jurisdictions of Middlesex, which remained into the Modern age. The Savoy Hospital was built during the Middle Ages, with a nave 200 feet long to hold up to a hundred beds. The building of the present chapel began under King Henry VII in the 1490 and was completed in 1512, to serve as a side chapel off the hospital's nave. The Savoy Hospital was demolished in the 19th century but the chapel remains.
The Savoy Chapel has hosted various other congregations, most notably that of St Mary-le-Strand whilst it had no church building of its own (1549–1714). Also the German Lutheran congregation of Westminster (now at Sandwich Street and Thanet Street, near St Pancras[2]) was granted royal permission to worship in the chapel when it separated from Holy Trinity (the City of London Lutheran congregation now at St Mary-at-Hill).[3] The new congregation's first pastor, Irenaeus Crusius (previously an associate at Holy Trinity), dedicated the chapel on the 19th Sunday after Trinity 1694 as the Marienkirche or the German Church of St Mary-le-Savoy.
Archibald Cameron of Lochiel, the last Jacobite leader to be executed for treason, was buried in the chapel in 1753.
Because the chapel was outside the usual ecclesiastical jurisdiction, it was noted in the 18th and 19th centuries as a place where marriages without banns might occur outside the usual parameters of ecclesiastical law of that time.[4] It was referred to in Evelyn Waugh's Brideshead Revisited as "the place where divorced couples got married in those days—a poky little place".[5] In 1755 Joseph Vernon married Jane Poitier here and the curate and vicar were transported for fourteen years for carrying out an unlicensed wedding.[6]
In 1908 the Savoy Chapel was the scene of a suffragette wedding between Victor and Una Duval. The wedding was attended by leading suffragettes and the wedding caused much debate because the bride refused to say "and obey", despite the intervention of the Archbishop of Canterbury.[7]
In 1939, it was announced by the office of the Duchy of Lancaster that the Savoy Chapel would be known as The King's Chapel of the Savoy.
Many of the chapel's stained glass windows were destroyed in the London Blitz during the Second World War. However, a triptych stained glass memorial window survives which depicts a procession of angelic musicians. It is dedicated to the memory of Richard D'Oyly Carte (who was married at the chapel in 1888) and was unveiled by Sir Henry Irving in 1902; after their deaths, the names of Rupert D'Oyly Carte[8] and Dame Bridget D'Oyly Carte were added.[9]
Present
The chapel has been Crown property for centuries as part of the Savoy Hospital estate and remains under the personal ownership of the monarch as part of the Duchy of Lancaster and thereby is a royal peculiar. The chaplain is appointed by the Duchy, and the chapel serves as the "parish church" of the Savoy Estate, the Duchy of Lancaster's principal London landholding and the location of principal office.
Most of the chapel's costs and maintenance are met by the Duchy of Lancaster, with recent works including landscaping of its garden in honour of the Golden Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II in 2002 and restoration of the chapel ceiling in 1999. The chapel was further refurbished and a new stained-glass window commemorating the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II was unveiled by the Queen in November 2012.
Since 1937, the chaplain has been ex-officio chaplain of the Royal Victorian Order. Armorial plates commemorating GCVOs past and present are displayed throughout the chapel. (The Royal Victorian Order maintins an Honorary Genealogist from among the officers of arms of the College of Arms.)
Worship
The Savoy Chapel uses the 1662 Book of Common Prayer and the King James Bible for worship. Services are held each Sunday, to which members of the public are welcomed, excepting occasional special events.[10] The chapel is open for visitors from Monday to Thursday.[11]
Music
Organ
The Chapel possesses a three-manual pipe organ, constructed to the specifications of the previous Master of the Music, William Cole and manufactured by J. W. Walker & Sons Ltd. The organ casework was designed by Arthur Bedford Knapp-Fisher (1888-1965). It was dedicated by Her Majesty The Queen at a service to commemorate the 700th anniversary of the Duchy of Lancaster on 27 October 1965.[12]
Choir
The choir is rooted in the English cathedral tradition, and consists of up to twenty-one boy choristers (aged ten upwards) and six professional gentlemen. The trebles are drawn exclusively from St. Olave's Grammar School. Each year up to four prospective year six pupils are selected to sing as trebles in the choir (after passing an academic and vocal test), with their place at St. Olave's confirmed for the following year. Some choristers also join in year 7, during their first year at St. Olave's. Chorister are expected to stay in the choir until their voices break and will attend rehearsals three times a week at school and once a week at the chapel itself. The boy trebles are known as Wakeman choristers in recognition of the 49 years of association that the late Michael Wakeham had with the Choir.[13] The choir sings weekly Sunday morning services of either Eucharist or Matins, as well as those on Christmas and Easter Day. They also sing for various weddings, carol services and royal events throughout the year.[14]
Pictures
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Chapel interior in 1820 -
Chapel and graveyard in 1830 -
Watercolour of chapel, 1902 -
Savoy Chapel font -
Chapel quire and holy table -
The organ and banners -
South exterior and entrance to chapel -
Savoy Chapel garden
_p4.031_-_Interior_of_the_Savoy_Chapel,_Westminster.jpg)
Outside links
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("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Savoy Chapel) |
References
- ↑ National Heritage List 1264731: Savoy Chapel (Queen's Chapel of the Savoy)
- ↑ Lutheran.org
- ↑ http://www.stanneslutheranchurch.org.uk
- ↑ Newgate Records
- ↑ "Brideshead Revisited"
- ↑ A Collection of the Most Remarkable and Interesting Trials: Particularly of Those Persons who Have Forfeited Their Lives to the Injured Laws of Their Country. R. Snagg. 1776. pp. 653–655. https://books.google.com/books?id=GE8oAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA653.
- ↑ Diane Atkinson (8 February 2018). Rise Up Women!: The Remarkable Lives of the Suffragettes. Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 129. ISBN 978-1-4088-4406-9. https://books.google.com/books?id=8Ng3DwAAQBAJ&pg=PT129.
- ↑ www.doylycarte.org.uk
- ↑ Goodman, Andrew. Gilbert and Sullivan's London (1988; 2000) Faber & Faber ISBN 0-571-20016-8
- ↑ www.royalchapelsavoy.org
- ↑ Savoy Chapel
- ↑ Savoy Chapel: music
- ↑ http://saintolaves.net/wakehamoverview
- ↑ Savoy Chaoel: Joining the choir