Church of St Peter ad Vincula
Church of St Peter ad Vincula | |
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Royal Peculiar | |
Clergy | |
Chaplain(s) | Roger Hall |
The Chapel Royal of St Peter ad Vincula ("St Peter in chains") is a
At St Peter's west end is a short tower, surmounted by a
History
The original foundation date and location for the chapel is unknown. The chapel has been destroyed, rebuilt, relocated and renovated several times. Some have proposed that the chapel was founded before the
St Peter ad Vincula had been a parish church for at least a century before it became the chapel for the inhabitants of the Tower in the middle of the thirteenth century in the reign of Henry III,[1] and the crypt under the church was built at that time.[4] On 10 December 1241, Henry III issued a writ of liberate to have the ecclesia sancti Petri infra ballium Turris nostrae London (church of St Peter within the bailey of our Tower of London) enhanced. The writ indicates that by 1241 the chapel had been brought within the Tower walls. This structure had two chancels, dedicated to St Mary, and to St Peter; the latter contained Royal stalls that were wainscoted and painted, and there were two altars dedicated to St. Nicholas and St. Katherine.[5][6]
During the reign of Henry III, the church had an enclosed cell for an anchorite, which would have been directly attached or located nearby.[7] Henry III supported the living expenses of at least three different recluses, both men and women, at the Tower's anchorhold: Brother William,[8] Idonee de Boclaund (an anchoress),[9] and Geoffrey le Hermit.[10] After 1312, it is likely the ceremonial vigil related to the induction of the Knights of the Bath were held in the church.[11]
The chapel's dedication to "St Peter ad Vincula" has several possible meanings in the Norman-English context. The most obvious is in reference to the Liberation of Peter from prison, as first mentioned in Acts 12:3-19. The first prisoner of the Tower, Ranulf Flambard, the Norman Bishop of Durham, was incarcerated by Henry I on 15 August 1100.[12]
Current edifice
The existing building was rebuilt for
Parish of the Tower of London
St Peter ad Vincula was the church of the
Burials and monuments
The church contains many splendid monuments. In the north-west corner is a memorial to John Holland, Duke of Exeter, a Constable of the Tower, who died in 1447. Under the central arcade lies the effigy of Cholmondeley, who died in 1521, the year after he completed the rebuilding of the church.[1] In the sanctuary, there is an impressive monument to Sir Richard Blount, who died in 1564 and is buried in the church, and his son Sir Michael, died in 1610, both Tudor Lieutenants of the Tower, who would have witnessed many of the executions.[20] There is a fine 17th-century organ, decorated with carvings by Grinling Gibbons.
The church is the burial place of some of the most famous Tower prisoners, including
A list of "remarkable persons" buried in the chapel between 1534 and 1747 is listed on a table on the west wall.
In truth there is no sadder spot on the earth than that little cemetery. Death is there associated, not, as in Westminster Abbey and Saint Paul's, with genius and virtue, with public veneration and with imperishable renown; not, as in our humblest churches and churchyards, with everything that is most endearing in social and domestic charities; but with whatever is darkest in human nature and in human destiny, with the savage triumph of implacable enemies, with the inconstancy, the ingratitude, the cowardice of friends, with all the miseries of fallen greatness and of blighted fame. Thither have been carried, through successive ages, by the rude hands of gaolers, without one mourner following, the bleeding relics of men who had been the captains of armies, the leaders of parties, the oracles of senates, and the ornaments of courts.[25]
During renovation work in 1876 three burials were discovered, identified as Anne Boleyn, Margaret Pole, Countess of Salisbury, and John Dudley, 1st Duke of Northumberland.[26][27][28]
Chapel Royal
The church is a
The chapel can be visited as part of a specific tour within the Tower of London or by attending the regular Sunday morning service.[citation needed]
Further reading
- ISBN 9781015404717, 398 pages)
References
- ^ a b c d e f "Chapel of St Peter Ad Vincula", Camelot International: The Tower of London (2007)
- ^ George Leyden Hennessy, Novum Repertorium Ecclesiasticum Parochiale Londinense (1898), vol. 2, p. 372
- ^ J. Nicholls, The Chapels Royal of St Peter ad Vincula and St John the Evangelist, H. M. Tower of London, p. 3, Pitkin Pictorials, (1971)
- Poyser, Arthur. The Tower of London, A. & C. (1908), pp. 131–132
- ^ Rot. Lib. 25 Henry III m. 20. 2005.
- ^ Bayley, John. The History and Antiquities of the Tower of London Part I (1821), p. 118
- ^ Bayley, John. The History and Antiquities of the Tower of London Part I (1821), p. 129
- ^ "Rot. Claus. 21 Hen III m. 15". 1902.
- ^ Rot. Claus. 37 Hen III m. 2. H.M. Stationery Off. 1902.
- ^ The National Archives of the UK (TNA): Ancient Correspondence SC1/30/87
- ^ "St John's Chapel". Historic Royal Palaces. Retrieved 29 August 2023.
- ^ Huscroft, Ruling England, p. 68, Pearson/Longman (2005)
- ^ Tabor, M. "The City Churches", p. 44, London: The Swarthmore Press (1917)
- ^ Curl, J. and S. Wilson, Oxford Dictionary of Architecture, 3rd ed. (2015), p. 807
- ^ Burn, Richard; John Burn (1793). The Justice of the Peace, and Parish Officer, Volume 1.
- ^ Miller, A. (1759). Collection of Yearly Bills of Mortality, from 1657 to 1758 Inclusive.
- ^ ISBN 0-901050-67-9.
- ^ "Tower of London", Star, Issue 5033, 20 August 1894, p. 3
- ^ ‘The Royal Regiment of Fusiliers Regimental Handbook. RRF. 2019.’‘
- ^ "St Peter ad Vincula, Tower of London, Tower Hill, London EC3: tourist information", TourUK, accessed 7 February 2013
- ISBN 9781681772875– via Google Books.
- ^ Bell, Doyne Courtenay. Thomas Cromwell, Earl of Essex, Notices of the historic persons buried in the chapel of St. Peter ad Vincula, J. Murray (1877), p. 109
- ^ Bell, Doyne Courtenay. Notices of the Historic Persons Buried in the Chapel of St. Peter Ad Vincula. J. Murray (1877), pp. 127–134
- ^ "James Scott, Duke of Monmouth" Archived 2014-07-14 at the Wayback Machine, Family Search, accessed 12 June 2014
- ^ Macaulay, Thomas Babington. The History of England from the Accession of James II, 5 vols. (1848)
- doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/22451. Retrieved 18 November 2020. (Subscription or UK public library membershiprequired.)
- ^ Bell, Doyne C. (1877). Notices of the Historic Persons Buried in the Chapel of St. Peter ad Vincula in the Tower of London. London: John Murray, Albemarle Street. pp. 24–29.
- ISBN 9780521406772.
- ^ "Reverend Roger Hall becomes Tower's first Canon for 300 years" Archived 2014-01-19 at the Wayback Machine, Historic Royal Palaces, accessed 21 February 2014