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Queen's Chapel

Coordinates: 51°30′18″N 0°08′13″W / 51.50500°N 0.13694°W / 51.50500; -0.13694
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Queen's Chapel
Marlborough Road front
Queen's Chapel is located in Greater London
Queen's Chapel
Queen's Chapel
51°30′18″N 0°08′13″W / 51.50500°N 0.13694°W / 51.50500; -0.13694
LocationLondon
CountryUnited Kingdom
DenominationChurch of England
Previous denominationCatholic
Architecture
Architect(s)Inigo Jones
Years built1623–1625

The Queen's Chapel (officially, The Queen's Chapel St. James Palace and previously the German Chapel) is a chapel in central London England. Designed by Inigo Jones, it was built between 1623 and 1625 as an adjunct to St. James's Palace, initially as a Catholic chapel for the Infanta Maria Anna of Spain, Holy Roman Empress, and then for Queen Henrietta Maria of England. It is one of the facilities of the British monarch's household religious establishment, the Chapel Royal, but should not be confused with the 1540 liturgical building also known as the Chapel Royal, which is within the palace, just across Marlborough Road. Queen's Chapel is a Grade I listed building.[1]

History

The Queen's Chapel was built as a Catholic chapel at a time when the construction of churches for that denomination was otherwise prohibited in England, and was used by Charles I's wife French Queen Henrietta Maria, who imported chapel furnishings from France.[2] During the English Civil War it was used as a stable.[2] It was refurbished in 1662,[3] and again in the 1680s by Christopher Wren. From the 1690s the chapel was used by the Continental Protestant courtiers of William and Mary. In 1718, the chapel was given over to German courtiers of George I who had moved to England with him. The chapel was then called the German Chapel.[4] On 17 September 1782 the German organist Augustus Frederic Christopher Kollmann began work at the Royal German Chapel and he was there for the rest of his life.[5] He was succeeded by his son George Augustus Kollmann and his daughter Johanna Sophia Kollmann who died in 1849.[6]

It became an administered Chapel Royal again in 1938.[7]

The chapel was built as an integral part of St James's Palace, but when the adjacent private apartments of the monarch burned down in 1809 they were not replaced, and in 1856–57 Marlborough Road was laid out between the palace and the Queen's Chapel. The result is that physically the chapel now appears to be more part of the Marlborough House complex than of St James's Palace.[7]

The body of Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother lay at the Queen's Chapel for several days in 2002, during the preparations for her lying-in-state in Westminster Hall before her ceremonial funeral.[8][3]

Architecture

The brick building is rendered to appear as if it were stone built.[1] It was built in a Palladian style.[9] It has gable ends with pediments. The interior vault is gilded and painted.[1]

  • East and North walls from Marlborough House grounds
    East and North walls
    from Marlborough House grounds
  • The Queen's Chapel in 1688 after refurnishing by Christopher Wren in 1682–1684
    The Queen's Chapel in 1688 after refurnishing by Christopher Wren in 1682–1684
  • The German Chapel in 1819
    The German Chapel in 1819
  • Plaque next to the Queen's Chapel
    Plaque next to the Queen's Chapel

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c "Queen's Chapel". National Heritage List for England. Historic England. Retrieved 15 March 2020.
  2. ^ a b Harris, Carolyn. "The Chapel Royal at St. James's Palace from King Henry VIII to Prince George of Cambridge". Royal Historian. Retrieved 15 March 2020.
  3. ^ a b Timms, Elizabeth Jane. "The Queen's Chapel, St James's". Royal Central. Retrieved 15 March 2020.
  4. ^ Susan (6 July 2021). "Queen's Chapel at St. James's Palace in London, England". Unofficial Royalty. Retrieved 26 December 2022.
  5. ^ Kassler, Michael (2004). The English Bach Awakening: Knowledge Of J.s. Bach And His Music In England 1750–1830. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd. p. 20-22. ISBN 978-1-84014-666-0. Retrieved 2 February 2013.
  6. ^ Kassler, Michael (23 September 2004). Kollmann, Augustus Frederic Christopher (1756–1829), music theorist. Vol. 1. Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/15805.
  7. ^ a b Bradley, Simon (2001), "The Queen's Chapel in the Twentieth Century", Architectural History, 44: 293–302, doi:10.2307/1568758, JSTOR 1568758
  8. ^ "Gun salutes honour Queen Mother". The Guardian. Retrieved 21 July 2014.
  9. ^ "The Queen's Chapel (St James's Palace)". Open House London. Retrieved 15 March 2020.

Further reading

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Queen's Chapel, St James' Palace.
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