St. George's Chapel, Windsor

Originally the Chapel of St. Edward the Confessor, built in the early 13th Century by Henry III of England, it was attached to the second of two collegiate churches founded by Edward III on 6 August, 1348, and rededicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary, St. Edward the Confessor and St. George.

It became the motherchurch of the Order of the Garter, and a special service is still held in June of each year attended by the Queen and the members of the order, whose heraldic banners hang above the upper stalls of the choir where they have a seat for life.

The chapel today is a result of spectacular expansion in the Perpendicular Gothic style, begun in 1475 during the reign of Edward IV. During the reign of Henry VII, much of the original chapel of St. George was pulled down to make way for the Lady Chapel, which he then abandoned in favour of building it at Westminster Abbey instead. Although others continued work on the chapel at Windsor, it was not vaulted and furnished until Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom oversaw refurbishment of the chapel in the 19th Century.

It remains a Royal Peculiar, existing outside the usual hierarchy of the Church of England and responsible directly to the Queen.

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