June and July at St George’s Chapel bring a varied and fascinating series of Services and Events.
In early June an exhibition opens in the Dean’s Cloister marking the 90th birthday of HRH The Duke of Edinburgh. Photographs and other items have been brought together for display from 2 June until the end of July(Monday to Saturday during Chapel visitor hours; Windsor Castle admission charge or free entry with Advantage card apply).
The exhibition can be seen at the exit from St George’s Chapel and has been curated to be complementary to the Royal Collection exhibition running for the rest of the year in the Drawings Gallery, Windsor Castle. The exhibition in the Cloister has been generously supported by ‘The Times’.
The Duke of Edinburgh’s birthday will be marked by a special service in St George’s Chapel on 12 June but please note that access to the service is by invitation only. The day before, on Saturday 11 June, the bells of the Curfew Tower will be rung in a full peal (lasting over three hours) in celebration. To hear an example of the bells ringing please click here.
Garter Day takes place on Monday 13 June. This year two new Knights of the Garter will be invested and installed; they are Admiral Lord Boyce and Lord Phillips of Worth Matravers. The investiture takes place on the morning of Garter Day in the Garter Throne Room in the State Apartments of Windsor Castle; the installation takes place at the beginning of the Service in St George’s Chapel during the afternoon. For more information about the Order of the Garter please click here.
On 21 June a new grotesque will be installed on the outside wall of St George’s Chapel near the South Door. The carving, undertaken by a student at the City & Guilds in London, depicts a phoenix.
The sculpture programme is a fascinating, innovative and exciting part of the overall refurbishment programme. Exquisite and tiny 15th century carving is being cleaned and at the same time 21st century work is being added to St George’s Chapel to replace eroded Victorian grotesques. In the later part of June and throughout July scaffolding will be erected in the North Quire Aisle to allow conservation cleaning of all the stonework there. For more information or to support the cleaning and conservation of old sculpture and the provision of new sculpture please contact [email protected].
Later in June a lecture will be given by Adam Nicolson to mark the 400th anniversary of the King James Bible. Throughout this period an exhibition in the South Quire Aisle of St George’s Chapel also marks the anniversary with books and documents from the Chapter Library and Archives of St George’s. Readings at Evensong continue to be taken from the 400 year old translation this term. For more information about the anniversary lecture on Monday 27 June please click here noting that applications for tickets close on 17 June.
Finally why not relax and enjoy one of the many organ recitals during this period.
Lunchtime organ recitals take place on Tuesday lunchtimes at 1.10pm on7, 14, 21 and 28 June.
Evening organ recitals will take place on 1 June and 6 July at 7.30pm.
For more information please click here.