Dean and Canons of Windsor

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

St George's Chapel at Windsor Castle, left, 1848.
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

Foundation

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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

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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

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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

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As of 2 September 2023:[7]

  • Dean of WindsorChristopher Cocksworth (from November 2023)[8]
  • Vice-Dean, and Warden of St George's House — Hueston Finlay (canon since 25 September 2004 and warden since September 2005;[9] steward 2006–2009;[10] treasurer since 2012;[11] Vice-Dean since before July 2017)[12]
  • Canon Precentor and Chaplain — Martin Poll (canon and chaplain since 1 October 2012 installation;[13] precentor since before July 2017)[14]
  • Canon Steward and Treasurer — Mark Powell (since 1 February 2016 installation)[15]
Minor Canons
  • Succentor and School Chaplain — Jonathan Coore

Deans of Windsor

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See Dean of Windsor for chronological list.

Canons of the First Stall

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Canonry of the First Stall suspended 1861 by Act of 1840.

Canons of the Second Stall

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

Canons of the Third Stall

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Canonry of the Third Stall suspended by Act of 1840.

Canons of the Fourth Stall

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Canonry suspended by Act of 1840.

Canons of the Fifth Stall

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Canons of the Sixth Stall

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Canons of the Seventh Stall

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Canonry suspended in 1860 by Act of 1840.

Canons of the Eighth Stall

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

Canons of the Ninth Stall

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current

Canons of the Tenth Stall

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

Canons of the Eleventh Stall

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Canons of the Twelfth Stall

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Twelfth Stall suspended under the Act of 1840.

References

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  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. ^ a b "New Canon of Windsor". 16 November 2015. Archived from the original on 24 April 2016.
  16. ^ "No. 27420". The London Gazette. 28 March 1902. p. 2153.
  17. ^ "Canon Alan Coldwells – Obituaries". The Independent. London. Retrieved 13 March 2011.[dead link]
  18. ^ "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.
  19. ^ "The Reverend John Pelling, D.D". Victoria & Albert Museum. Retrieved 22 May 2019.
  20. ^ Portraits of John Pelling at the National Portrait Gallery, London
  21. ^ Slee, Colin (23 November 2009). "Stephen Verney obituary". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 13 March 2011.
  22. ^ 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.
  23. ^ "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.