Dean Christopher Wren, father of the architect

In 1682 the Dean and Canons of Windsor called in Sir Christopher Wren to undertake an architectural survey of St George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle, and to provide an estimate for the restoration work required. Sir Christopher Wren was no stranger to St George’s: his uncle, Matthew, and father, Christopher, had successively served as Dean of Windsor, from 1628 to 1635 and 1635 to 1659 respectively. The younger Christopher Wren (born in 1632) had spent much of his childhood in the Windsor Deanery. However, it was as a skilled surveyor and architect rather than as a former resident that he was invited back in 1682.  His five page report to the Dean and Canons “concerning the defects and reparations of this Chapel” was considered by Chapter at a meeting on 4 April 1682. It made depressing reading.    

Wren’s main concern lay in the condition of the external stonework, particularly the battlements, pinnacles and the “beasts” mounted on them. He wrote:
The Battlements in some places are loose enough and want pointinge, in some places fallen and alsoe the Pinnacles want pointing. The beasts which stand upon them broken and fallen in the gutters. The coapings of the Buttresses in many places take water and nourish weeds and want cleaning and pointinge, the north side most especially…

Indeed, he went so far as to recommend that the beasts on the west front be removed and replaced with forty-eight pineapples at a cost of £50 each:
I could wish the beasts on the west body of the Church which are all decayed & by falling break the lead might be taken of & in leiue of them Pineapples… added to coap the Pinnacles from weather, it would be a decent ornament & the charge not soe considerable as the advantage it would give the fabricke.

Wren’s total estimate for the restoration work was £1,012 which he suggested should be spread over seven years. The Dean and Canons were guided by the majority of Wren’s recommendations, undertaking a major programme of building works including the removal of the “beasts”. However, whether for financial or for aesthetic reasons, Chapter did not take up his suggestion of replacing them with pineapples.

Clare (Archivist and Chapter Librarian)

Stallplate of Charles Brandon, KG

Charles Brandon (1484-1545) was a close personal friend of King Henry VIII who granted him the title of Duke of Suffolk along with many other honours. He was made famous by his great command in the French Campaign of 1513, after which was appointed Knight of the Garter. His stall plate can be seen in the seventh stall on the north side of the Quire in St George’s Chapel. He was also famously known for his marriage to Mary, sister of Henry VIII and widow of Louis XII, King of France. However this royal marriage which took place without the King’s permisson was viewed an offence against royal etiquette. As a result Charles and Mary were banished to the Brandon estates in Suffolk. But the King’s displeaure was quickly forgotten and Brandon advanced to high honour and was successful in becoming Master of the Horse in 1513, as well as receiving many valuable grants of land.

Charles Brandon died of unknown causes and was buried at St Georges Chapel on the King’s wishes, although in his will he had requested to be buried at Tattershall in Lincolnshire. A black marble slab now marks his burial place in the South Quire Aisle, bearing an inscription with his name, title, date of death and marital status. The arms of Brandon and his wife, Mary, are contained in two circles engraved at the top of the ledger stone. The current inscription is the third: previously there have been two others, which are both now non-existent. The first inscription, recorded by Ashmole, had disappeared by 1749 and was replaced by a second, suspected to have been the work of Henry Emlyn. The present inscription was carved in 1947-8.

Layla Holden, Chloe Roach, Mollie White (Windsor Girls’ School)

Monument to Gerald Wellesley, Dean of Windsor, 1854-1882

Gerald Wellesley, born on October 31st 1809, was Dean of Windsor and Register of the Most Noble Order of the Garter from 1854 to 1882. He was the third son of Henry, 1st Baron Cowley, and nephew to Arthur, 1st Duke of Wellington. Wellesley was a highly respected man; Archbishop Davidson (one of Wellesley’s successors as Dean of Windsor) saw him as “one of the most trusted of Queen Victoria’s friends.”

His monument lies in the North Quire Aisle in St George’s Chapel. It is made out of white carrara marble on which is the recumbent figure of Gerald Wellesley. The monument was unveiled by Queen Victoria on 1st December 1884.

However, for many years there has been confusion as to whether Dean Wellesley is actually buried in the Chapel or not. The Dictionary of National Biography and the St George’s Chapel Historical Monograph, The Deans and Canons of Windsor (1950) state that he is buried here, but there is no entry for this in either the Burial Fees Register [SGC XIX.89] or in the Burials Register [SGC R.2] itself. Contemporary articles in The Times newspaper indicate that his funeral took place at Stratfield Saye, the home of the Dukes of Wellington. Does that mean he was buried there too?

The answer is provided by Queen Victoria herself. In her journal for the 23 September 1882, she notes ”The dear Dean, by his own desire, was to be laid to rest in the churchyard at Strathfieldsaye, where he had spent his early years as a Clergyman.  We grieve much that he should not rest at Windsor.”
[Royal Archives VIC/MAIN/QVJ/1882: 23 September]

Matthew Alexander & Matthew Bush, Windsor Boys’ School