A royal peculiar is a

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britai ...

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one o ...

or church exempt from the jurisdiction of the

diocese In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associa ...

and the province in which it lies, and subject to the direct jurisdiction of the monarch, or in Cornwall by the

duke Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are rank ...

Definition

The church parish system dates from Saxon times when most early churches were provided by the lord whose estate land coincided with that of the parish. A donative parish (or "peculiar") was one that was exempt from diocesan jurisdiction. There are several reasons for peculiars but usually they were held by a senior churchman from another district, parish or diocese. They could include the separate or "peculiar" jurisdiction of the monarch, another archbishop or bishop, or the dean and chapter of a cathedral (also, the Knights Templar and the

Knights Hospitaller The Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem ( la, Ordo Fratrum Hospitalis Sancti Ioannis Hierosolymitani), commonly known as the Knights Hospitaller (), was a medieval and early modern Catholic military order. It was headq ...

). An ''archbishop's peculiar'' is subject to the direct jurisdiction of an archbishop and a ''royal peculiar'' is subject to the direct jurisdiction of the monarch. Most peculiars survived the

Reformation The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...

but, with the exception of royal peculiars, were finally abolished during the 19th century by various

Acts of Parliament Acts of Parliament, sometimes referred to as primary legislation, are texts of law passed by the legislative body of a jurisdiction (often a parliament or council). In most countries with a parliamentary system of government, acts of parliament be ...

and became subject to the jurisdiction of the diocese in which they lay, although a few non-royal peculiars still exist. The majority of royal peculiars that remain are within the Diocese of London.

Present day

London

*The Collegiate Church of St Peter, Westminster, commonly known as Westminster Abbey, and containing the

Henry VII Chapel The Henry VII Lady Chapel, now more often known just as the Henry VII Chapel, is a large Lady chapel at the far eastern end of Westminster Abbey, paid for by the will of King Henry VII. It is separated from the rest of the abbey by brass gates ...

, which is the chapel of the

Order of the Bath The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I of Great Britain, George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate medieval ceremony for appointing a knight, which involved Bathing#Medieval ...

. *The chapels associated with the Chapel Royal, which refers not to a building but to an establishment in the Royal household, a body of priests and singers who explicitly serve the spiritual needs of the sovereign. Curiously, because the Bishop of London is customarily appointed the

Dean of the Chapel Royal The Dean of the Chapel Royal, in any kingdom, can be the title of an official charged with oversight of that kingdom's chapel royal, the ecclesiastical establishment which is part of the royal household and ministers to it. England In England, ...

, the bishop typically has authority of these chapels ''as dean'', but does not have authority over them ''as bishop'' even though they are geographically within the Diocese of London. **The Chapel Royal, St James's Palace **The Queen's Chapel, St James's Palace **The Chapel Royal,

Hampton Court Hampton Court Palace is a Grade I listed royal palace in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, southwest and upstream of central London on the River Thames. The building of the palace began in 1514 for Cardinal Thomas Wolsey, the chie ...

** The Chapel of St John the Evangelist in the

Tower of London The Tower of London, officially His Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress of the Tower of London, is a historic castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, which is sep ...

** The Chapel of St Peter ad Vincula in the Tower of London ** The King's Chapel of the Savoy, inaugurated as a Chapel Royal in November 2016, is a private

chapel A chapel is a Christian place of prayer and worship that is usually relatively small. The term has several meanings. Firstly, smaller spaces inside a church that have their own altar are often called chapels; the Lady chapel is a common ty ...

of the sovereign in right of the

Duchy of Lancaster The Duchy of Lancaster is the private estate of the British sovereign as Duke of Lancaster. The principal purpose of the estate is to provide a source of independent income to the sovereign. The estate consists of a portfolio of lands, properti ...

. It is the chapel of the

Royal Victorian Order The Royal Victorian Order (french: Ordre royal de Victoria) is a dynastic order of knighthood established in 1896 by Queen Victoria. It recognises distinguished personal service to the British monarch, Canadian monarch, Australian monarch, or ...

. The number of members of the order 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. The building is administered through the Lord Great Chamberlain and Black Rod and it has no dedicated clergy: by convention services were conducted by the

Rector Rector (Latin for the member of a vessel's crew who steers) may refer to: Style or title *Rector (ecclesiastical), a cleric who functions as an administrative leader in some Christian denominations *Rector (academia), a senior official in an edu ...

St Margaret's, Westminster The Church of St Margaret, Westminster Abbey, is in the grounds of Westminster Abbey on Parliament Square, London, England. It is dedicated to Margaret of Antioch, and forms part of a single World Heritage Site with the Palace of Westminster ...

, a member of the Chapter of Westminster Abbey. In 2010, the Speaker of the House of Commons used his right of appointment of his Chaplain to nominate an outsider, the Revd

Rose Hudson-Wilkin Rose Josephine Hudson-Wilkin, (born 19 January 1961) is a British Anglican bishop, who has been suffragan Bishop of Dover in the diocese of Canterbury - deputising for the Archbishop - since 2019: she is the first black woman to become a Chur ...

. *The Royal Foundation of St Katharine founded in 1147 by Queen

Matilda of England Empress Matilda ( 7 February 110210 September 1167), also known as the Empress Maude, was one of the claimants to the English throne during the civil war known as the Anarchy. The daughter of King Henry I of England, she moved to Germany as ...

as a religious community and medieval hospital for poor infirm people next to the Tower of London *

Temple Church The Temple Church is a Royal peculiar church in the City of London located between Fleet Street and the River Thames, built by the Knights Templar as their English headquarters. It was consecrated on 10 February 1185 by Patriarch Heraclius of J ...

, built by the Knights Templar in the City of London

Edinburgh

* Chapel Royal, Holyrood Palace

Cambridge

* The Church of St Edward, King and Martyr

Windsor

St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle St George's Chapel at Windsor Castle in England is a castle chapel built in the late-medieval Perpendicular Gothic style. It is both a Royal Peculiar (a church under the direct jurisdiction of the monarch) and the Chapel of the Order of the Gart ...

, the Chapel of the Order of the Garter *

Royal Chapel of All Saints The Royal Chapel of All Saints or Queen Victoria's Chapel is a Grade II listed church in the grounds of the Royal Lodge in Windsor Great Park, Berkshire, England and is a Royal Peculiar, serving as an informal parish church for the inhabitants an ...

(in the grounds of the

Royal Lodge The Royal Lodge is a Grade II listed house in Windsor Great Park in Berkshire, England, half a mile north of Cumberland Lodge and south of Windsor Castle. Part of the Crown Estate, it was the Windsor residence of Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mothe ...

Windsor Great Park Windsor Great Park is a Royal Park of , including a deer park, to the south of the town of Windsor on the border of Berkshire and Surrey in England. It is adjacent to the private Home Park, which is nearer the castle. The park was, for man ...

)

Former royal peculiars

*St Michael's Collegiate Church, Penkridge near Wolverhampton *St Michael and All Angels' Church,

Tettenhall Tettenhall is an historic village within the City of Wolverhampton, England. Tettenhall became part of Wolverhampton in 1966, along with Bilston, Wednesfield and parts of Willenhall, Coseley and Sedgley. History Tettenhall's name derives fr ...

, Wolverhampton 1247–1548 *Canons of Dover Priory, until 1130 * Holy Trinity, Minories, London, until 1730 * St Mary and St Alkelda, Middleham, North Yorkshire, until 1856 *

Wimborne Minster Wimborne Minster (often referred to as Wimborne, ) is a market town in Dorset in South West England, and the name of the Church of England church in that town. It lies at the confluence of the River Stour and the River Allen, north of Poo ...

, Dorset, 1318–1846 * St Peter's Collegiate Church, Wolverhampton, 1479–1846 *The Deanery of St Buryan, Cornwall, comprising St Buryan's Church in

St Buryan St Buryan ( kw, Pluwveryan) is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of St Buryan, Lamorna and Paul in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The village of St Buryan is situated approximately west of Penzance along the B3283 to ...

, St Sennen's Church, Sennen, and St Levan's Church, St Levan, until 1850, and was a peculiar under the jurisdiction of the Duchy of Cornwall with the dean appointed by the duke. *The Deanery of

Bridgnorth Bridgnorth is a town in Shropshire, England. The River Severn splits it into High Town and Low Town, the upper town on the right bank and the lower on the left bank of the River Severn. The population at the 2011 Census was 12,079. Histor ...

, Shropshire, until 1856 * Dorchester Abbey in

Dorchester on Thames Dorchester on Thames (or Dorchester-on-Thames) is a village and civil parish in Oxfordshire, about northwest of Wallingford and southeast of Oxford. The town is a few hundred yards from the confluence of the River Thames and River Thame. A c ...

, Oxfordshire, 1536–1837 *The Collegiate Church and Royal Free Chapel of St Mary the Virgin, St Mary's Church, Shrewsbury, until 1856 *

St Mary's Church, Stafford St Mary's Church, Stafford is a Grade I listed parish church in Stafford, Staffordshire, England. History The church dates from the early 13th century, with 14th century transepts and 15th century clerestories and crossing tower. Excavations i ...

Non-royal peculiars

* St Mary-le-Bow, City of London *The Parish of Hawarden, Flintshire, Wales *The Parish of Southwick, Hampshire (St James, Southwick and St Nicholas, Boarhunt) * Charterhouse chapel, Islington, London * The Peculiar (or Peculier) of Masham, North Yorkshire *

Church of St Mary the Virgin, Hornby St Mary's Church Hornby, is the parish church for the village of Hornby, Richmondshire in North Yorkshire, England. The church is one of six in the Benefice of Lower Wensleydale. The oldest parts of the building date back to the 11th century. It ...

, North Yorkshire * Christ Church, Oxford *All college chapels of the

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

* Christ Church, Bath, Somerset *Chapel of St Lawrence,

Warminster Warminster () is an ancient market town with a nearby garrison, and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in south west Wiltshire, England, on the western edge of Salisbury Plain. The parish had a population of about 17,000 in 2011. The 11th-c ...

, Wiltshire; bought by the townspeople in 1574, administered by

feoffees Under the feudal system in England, a feoffee () is a trustee who holds a fief (or "fee"), that is to say an estate in land, for the use of a beneficial owner. The term is more fully stated as a feoffee to uses of the beneficial owner. The use o ...

The following chapels of the

Inns of Court The Inns of Court in London are the professional associations for barristers in England and Wales. There are four Inns of Court – Gray's Inn, Lincoln's Inn, Inner Temple and Middle Temple. All barristers must belong to one of them. They have ...

are extra-diocesan, and therefore peculiars, but not Royal: * Lincoln's Inn Chapel *

Gray's Inn The Honourable Society of Gray's Inn, commonly known as Gray's Inn, is one of the four Inns of Court (professional associations for barristers and judges) in London. To be called to the bar in order to practise as a barrister in England and W ...

Chapel

Notes

Citations

References

* * * * * * * *

External links

Deanery of Westminster – extra-parochial placesThe British Monarchy – Royal Victorian Order
from Anglicans Online {{Royal Peculiars Types of church buildings Church of England British monarchy