A Royal Peculiar (or Royal Peculier) is a place of worship that falls directly under the jurisdiction of the British monarch, rather than a diocese. The concept dates to Anglo-Saxon times, when a church could ally itself with the monarch and therefore not be subject to the bishopric of the area. Later it reflected the relationship between the Norman and Plantagenet kings and the English church.
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Royal Peculiars of the present day
- The Collegiate Church of St Peter, Westminster commonly known as Westminster Abbey, it contains Henry VII's chapel which is the chapel of the Order of the Bath.
- Royal Chapel of All Saints, Windsor
- The chapels associated with the Chapel Royal, which refer not to a building but to an establishment in the Royal Household; a body of priests and singers to explicitly serve the spiritual needs of the sovereign.
- The Chapel Royal, St James's Palace
- The Queen's Chapel, St James's Palace
- The Chapel Royal, Hampton Court
- The Chapel of St John the Evangelist in the Tower of London
- The Chapel of St Peter ad Vincula in the Tower of London
- The Queen's Chapel of the Savoy is exempt from any bishop's jurisdiction and is a private chapel of the sovereign in right of the Duchy of Lancaster. It is the chapel of The Royal Victorian Order. The number of members in recent years has outgrown the available space in the Savoy Chapel so the service for those who have received awards is now held in St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle every four years.
- The Chapel of St Mary Undercroft - the crypt of the former St Stephen's Chapel in the Palace of Westminster is also a Royal Peculier. The building is administered through the Lord Great Chamberlain and Black Rod but it has no dedicated clergy - most services are conducted by the rector of St Margaret's, Westminster, whose parish contains the Palace estate. The role of Verger to the chapel is now combined with that of Guide to the clock tower.
Non-Royal Peculiars
The following chapels of the Inns of Court are extra-diocesan, and therefore peculiars, but not Royal:
- The Peculiar of the Temple Church
- The Peculiar of Lincoln's Inn
- The Peculiar of Gray's Inn
Former Royal Peculiars
- Canons of Dover Priory until 1130
- Holy Trinity, Minories, London until 1730
- St. Mary and St. Alkeld, Middleham until 1845
- Wimborne Minster 1318 - 1846
- St. Peter's Collegiate Church, Wolverhampton 1479 - 1846
- The Deanery of St. Buryan comprising St Buryan's Church in St. Buryan, St. Sennen's Church, Sennen, and St. Levan's Church, St. Levan until 1850.
- The Deanery of Bridgnorth until 1856
See also
External links and references
- Diocese of London - Cathedral and Royal Peculiars
- Report of Review Group on the Royal Peculiars 2001
- The British Monarchy - Royal Victorian Order
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