From 1814 to 1815 work began to adapt the small chapel to the east of St George’s, then known as the Wolsey Chapel, to serve as a Chapter House for meetings of the Knights of the Garter. Progress on the rebuilding lapsed until the project was revived in the 1830s, under the supervision of Wyatville. On the orders of William IV, Wyatville fashioned a new entrance in the second bay from the west and constructed a large porch on the south side of the Wolsey Chapel. This porch is shown in the plan featured as the Image of the Month  for November 2010 [SGC P110/83/1]. Projecting twenty-three feet southwards, it would have enabled the Knights to assemble before the processing into St George’s Chapel for Garter services and other ceremonies. In fact the Wolsey Chapel was never used as a Garter Chapter House, nor was the Garter porch employed by the Knights as a place of assembly, and in 1862 the porch was demolished to allow the rebuilding of the Wolsey Chapel as a memorial to Prince Albert.

It was not until the restoration of the Albert Memorial Chapel in the 1960s that Wyatville’s Garter entrance once more came to light. Its rediscovery was described in the Reports of the Friends of St George’s and the Descendants of the Knights of the Garter for 1965 and 1965-66.  However, the modern-day observer can see no trace of it.

Clare Rider (Archivist and Chapter Librarian)

By 1822, a National School had been established in Windsor for three years and George Champagne had been a Canon of Windsor for twenty years. In that year Canon Champagne bought a number of Old South Sea annuities for £233 6s 8d and his investment was transferred into the name of the Dean and Canons.

The resulting trust deed stated that the dividend and interest from the investment were “to be expended annually between Christmas Day and Lady Day on the purchase of Clothes or Books to be distributed in equal shares among such 14 boys and girls belonging to and receiving their education at The National School at Windsor … as should upon Examination by the Vicar, Curate and Canon be deemed by them to have made the greatest progress in Religious Knowledge in the course of the preceding year”.  The Canon’s endowment became known as the Champagne Gift or Champagne Prize Fund although it was sometimes popularly referred to as ‘Champney’s Gift’. A similar prize fund had been set up for the National School at Twickenham where Canon Champagne had served as Vicar from 1808 to 1818 and this came also to be administered by the Dean and Canons of Windsor.

The Royal Free School situated on Bachelors’ Acre, Windsor, succeeded the National School near the Castle and its pupils continued to benefit from Champagne’s Gift. One of the Archives team was awarded a Champagne Bible whilst a pupil at the Royal Free School in 1946!

Jill Hume (Archives volunteer)