Well, maybe not the whole chapel…

Like so many of the historic buildings in Britain – our branch just recently supported the Middleham Church Appeal with a donation – St Georges Chapel at Windsor is dependent on donations to raise the funds necessary for the conservation of the fabric of the chapel and associated buildings, as it is not the financial responsibility of the State, the Church or the Crown.

The College of St George at Windsor was founded on 6 August 1348 by Edward III, who at the same time also founded the College of St Stephen at Westminster Palace.  Both colleges consisted of a Dean and twelve secular priests, called canons.  Both colleges were attached to pre-existing chapels:  the chapel of St Stephen in Westminster, but the chapel at Windsor, built originally by Henry III,  was dedicated to St Edward the Confessor.  When Edward III founded his college there, the chapel was extensively rebuilt and the rededicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary, St George, England’s patron saint, to whom the king had a personal devotion, and St Edward the Confessor.

Edward IV was also closely connected with the college and commissioned a new chapel in 1475 and the Horseshoe Cloister to house the priests.   The quire and the aisles were built and roofed during his lifetime.  After his death in 1483 he was buried in the north east corner of the Chapel, below his chantry chapel, where he was joined by Elizabeth Woodville when she died in 1492.  The chantry chapel of his close friend William Hastings is close by.

The nave was started in 1483, but only completed in 1509.  In 1484 Richard III had the body of Henry VI brought from Chertsey Abbey.  His tomb becomes an important focus of pilgrimage.

Henry VIII later adapted Edward IV’s chantry chapel as a royal pew and added an oriel window  for the use of Catherine of Aragon at Garter ceremonies.

A major restoration of St George’s Chapel and associated buildings commenced in 2004.  To help with the conservation of the interior of the chapel a new initiative has been introduced – ‘Adopt a Boss’.  As the website of St Georges Chapel explains

Roof bosses are decorative architectural features found on the ceilings of buildings, frequently to cover the intersection of vaulting. They became widespread with the advent of Gothic architecture and are often intricately carved with foliage, heraldic devices or other decoration.

The bosses in St George’s Chapel feature colourful heraldic arms and badges, angels, initials, dragons, animals, floral and religious symbols. Amongst them are pendant bosses, apparently suspended in space, developed in France and rarely found in England. You can see them in the Quire of St George’s Chapel.

Unfortunately these bosses are also dirt traps and their cleaning is painstaking and very time-consuming work.  And this is where this appeal wants to help.  The public can adopt a boss of their choice and support its cleaning and restoration.

The Richard III Society is adopting a boss and we are invited to do so, too.  So if you are still in need of that special Christmas present, why not adopt a boss of St Georges?  The prices range from £150 for small boss to £1500 for a pendant boss or angel boss.  You will receive a photograph of the boss you are helping to conserve and an adoption certificate as well as information material on the symbolic meaning of the boss and the history and conservation of the ceiling bosses at St George’s.  You will also be invited to St George’s for an illustrated talk – though this might be a tad pricey to do from Australia.  However, this is a great scheme to invite the public to get involved with the conservation of this important historic building.

Sources:
Information on the college:  ‘College of St George’. URL:  http://www.stgeorges-windsor.org/ Date accessed:  18 Dec. 2011

A floor plan of the chapel:  ‘Berkshire:  St. George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle’, Britain Express.  URL:  http://www.britainexpress.com/counties/berkshire/windsor-castle/st-georges-map.htm Date accessed:  18 Dec. 2011

Information on the ‘Adopt a Boss’ initiative:  ‘Supporting St George:  Adopt a Boss’.  URL:  http://www.stgeorges-windsor.org/supporting-st-georges/adopt-a-boss.html Date accessed:  18 Dec. 2011

Information on the Society’s involvement:  ‘What’s New’ on the website of the Richard III Society, URL:  http://www.richardiii.net/

Tags: Church, Edward IV, Richard III, Richard III Society