Dean and canons of Windsor

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St George's Chapel at Windsor Castle, left, 1848. WindsorLowerBaileyJosephNash1848 edited.jpg
St George's Chapel at Windsor Castle, left, 1848.
The stalls for the Dean and Canons in the chapel Windsor Castle, Quire of St George's, by Charles Wild, 1818 - royal coll 922115 257036 ORI 0.jpg
The stalls for the Dean and Canons in the chapel
Rubbing of monumental brass in Eton College Chapel, of Roger Lupton (d.1540) with his coat-of-arms below. Lupton's hair displays the tonsure of a cleric. He wears the mantle of a Canon of Windsor (based in St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle), displaying on his left shoulder a Cross of St George within a circle RogerLupton Died1540 MonumentalBrass EtonCollege.png
Rubbing of monumental brass in Eton College Chapel, of Roger Lupton (d.1540) with his coat-of-arms below. Lupton's hair displays the tonsure of a cleric. He wears the mantle of a Canon of Windsor (based in St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle), displaying on his left shoulder a Cross of St George within a circle

The Dean and Canons of Windsor are the ecclesiastical body of St George's Chapel at Windsor Castle. [1]

Contents

Foundation

The college of canons was established in 1348 by letters patent of King Edward III. It was formally constituted on the feast of St Andrew the Apostle, 30 November 1352, when the statutes drawn up by William Edington, bishop of Winchester, as papal delegate, were solemnly delivered to William Mugge, the warden of the college. [2]

Accepting that the process of foundation took several years to complete, the college takes the year 1348 as its formal date of foundation.

Costume

Three ancient monumental brasses survive depicting canons of Windsor, wearing the mantle of the Order of the Garter, purple in colour, with a circular badge on the left shoulder, displaying: Argent, a cross gules (a Saint George's Cross): [3]

  1. c. 1370. Roger Parkers, North Stoke, Oxfordshire (half effigy with inscription; head lost).
  2. 1540. Roger Lupton, LL.D., Provost of Eton College and Canon of Windsor. Eton College Chapel (mantle worn over fur-lined cassock; no surplice).
  3. 1558. Arthur Cole, S.T.B., President of Magdalen, at Magdalen College, Oxford. Showing a very ornate mantle worn over cassock and surplice.

The long cords which fasten the mantle are well represented at North Stoke and Magdalen College. In the two later examples it is gathered. On the Eton brass the mantle is fastened at the neck. The lost effigy of John Robyns, d. 1558, of which the inscription remains in St George's Chapel, may have shown him wearing the mantle. [4] Brasses of canons of Windsor are found showing them vested in copes, without the Garter badge, as at Thurcaston, Leicestershire. (John Mershdcn, 1425), and at Harrow (Simon Marcheford, 1442). A brass was discovered in 1890 at Bennington, near Stevenage, Hertfordshire, showing a small mutilated effigy of a priest in a cope with a round badge (possibly a rose) on the left shoulder. The cope has an orphrey. This has been supposed to represent a Canon of Windsor. [5]

Suspension of canonries

Section 9 of the Ecclesiastical Commissioners Act 1840 (3 & 4 Vict. c. 113) provided for the suspension of eight of the canonries at St George's. It required that the first two vacant canonries should be suspended, the next filled, the next two suspended, the next filled, the next two suspended, the next filled, and the next two suspended. [6]

Current chapter

As of 2 September 2023: [7]

Minor Canons

In 2025, Pope Leo XIV was given honorary title of Papal Confrater of St. George’s Chapel by the chapter. [16]

Deans of Windsor

See Dean of Windsor for chronological list.

Canons of the First Stall

  1. Hugh Whytchirche 1352–1375
  2. John Landyran 1376
  3. Richard de Bokelly, alias Flandreyn 1376–1377
  4. William Dole 1377–1403
  5. William Lane 1403–1404
  6. Walter Mabeley 1404–1407
  7. Robert Wolveden 1407–1412
  8. Thomas Hanley 1412–1413
  9. John Meresden, Mersdon or Mershden 1413–1425
  10. Roger Gates 1425–1430
  11. John Pye 1430–1439
  12. William Brewster 1439–1465
  13. Thomas Downe 1465–1479
  14. John Arundel 1479–1496
  15. Thomas Jane 1496–1500
  16. William Cokkes 1500–1512
  17. Robert Birkenshaw or Bekensall 1512–1525
  18. Miles Welles or Wyllen 1526–1535
  19. Simon Symonds 1535–1551
  20. Richard Turner 1551–1553
  21. William Este 1554–1557
  22. William Pye 1557
  23. John Bowles or Bockle 1557–1558
  24. Edward Morecroft 1560–1580
  25. John King 1580–1607
  26. Mordecai (Murdoch) Alden 1607–1615
  27. John King 1615–1638
  28. Samuel Baker 1638–1639
  29. Thomas Browne 1639–1673
  30. Robert Young 1673–1716
  31. William Derham 1716–1735
  32. George Stephens 1735–1751
  33. Balthasar Regis 1751–1757
  34. John Bostock 1757–1786
  35. John Fisher 1786–1803
  36. William Beaumont Busby 1803–1808
  37. Hon. Henry Ryder 1808–1812
  38. Hon. Henry Cockayne Cust 1813–1861

Canonry of the First Stall suspended by the Act of 1840.

Canons of the Second Stall

Canonry of the Second Stall suspended by the Act of 1840.

Canons of the Third Stall

Canonry of the Third Stall suspended by the Act of 1840.

Canons of the Fourth Stall

Canonry of the Fourth Stall suspended by the Act of 1840.

Canons of the Fifth Stall

Canons of the Sixth Stall

Canons of the Seventh Stall

Canonry of the Seventh Stall suspended by the Act of 1840.

Canons of the Eighth Stall

Canonry of the Eighth Stall suspended by the Act of 1840.

Canons of the Ninth Stall

Canons of the Tenth Stall

Canonry of the Tenth Stall suspended by the Act of 1840.

Canons of the Eleventh Stall

Canons of the Twelfth Stall

Canonry of the Twelfth Stall suspended by the Act of 1840.

References

  1. "Dean & Canons of Windsor". St George's House Windsor Castle. Archived from the original on 18 June 2008. Retrieved 18 April 2008.
  2. Ollard, Sidney Leslie (1950). Fasti Wyndesoriensis. The Deans and Canons of St. George's Chapel. Historical monographs relating to St. George's Chapel, Windsor Castle. Vol. 8.
  3. Druitt, Herbert (1906). A manual of costume as illustrated by monumental brasses. Alex. Moring.
  4. Field, J. E. (May 1887). "Brasses of Canons of Windsor". The Antiquary . XV: 212–214.
  5. Transactions of the Cambridge University Association of Brass Collectors. Vol. II. London: Headley Bros. 1894. p.  24.
  6. Ecclesiastical Commissioners Act 1840 (c. 113), section 9.
  7. "Dean & Canons". stgeorges-windsor.org. Retrieved 2 January 2021.
  8. "Christopher Cocksworth to be appointed the Dean of Windsor". Diocese of Coventry. 20 June 2023. Archived from the original on 20 June 2023. Retrieved 20 June 2023.
  9. "Dean and Canons". Archived from the original on 14 October 2004. Retrieved 20 July 2019.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  10. "Dean and Canons". Archived from the original on 14 August 2007. Retrieved 20 July 2019.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  11. "The Dean & Canons of Windsor". Archived from the original on 28 September 2012. Retrieved 8 February 2019.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  12. "Services and Music from Sunday 2 to Saturday 8 July 2017" (PDF). 2 July 2017. Retrieved 22 May 2019.
  13. "New Canon of Windsor Installed". n.d. Retrieved 22 May 2019.
  14. "Summer 2017 Services and Music Booklet" (PDF). 17 July 2008. Retrieved 22 May 2019.
  15. "The Dean & Canons of Windsor" . Retrieved 3 October 2025.
  16. "Pope Leo XIV and King Charles III make history with first joint prayer since Reformation" . Retrieved 3 October 2025.
  17. "No. 27420". The London Gazette . 28 March 1902. p. 2153.
  18. "Canon Alan Coldwells – Obituaries". The Independent. London. Retrieved 13 March 2011.[ dead link ]
  19. "New Canon of Windsor". College of St George – Windsor Castle. 23 April 2009. Archived from the original on 18 July 2011. Retrieved 13 March 2011.
  20. "New Canon of Windsor". 16 November 2015. Archived from the original on 24 April 2016.
  21. "The Reverend John Pelling, D.D". Victoria & Albert Museum. Retrieved 22 May 2019.
  22. Portraits of John Pelling at the National Portrait Gallery, London
  23. Slee, Colin (23 November 2009). "Stephen Verney obituary". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 13 March 2011.
  24. Stanesby, Derek (25 September 1996). "Obituary: Canon G. B. Bentley". The Independent. London. Archived from the original on 4 November 2012. Retrieved 13 March 2011.
  25. "The Rev Canon John White, CVO's Biography". Debretts.com. 27 June 1942. Archived from the original on 31 July 2012. Retrieved 13 March 2011.