HISTORIC OLD CHAPEL.

Pahiatua Herald, Volume XLIII, Issue 13100, 31 January 1936, Page 7

HISTORIC OLD CHAPEL.

WHERE KING GEORGE LIES.

FITTING RESTING PXACE. King Georve V. was buried where his father and mother, brother and sister already lie—in the Royal vault beneath the choir of St. George’s Chapel within the walls of Windsor Castle. Close to King Edward VII., Queen Alexandria, the Duke of Clarence and Princess Victoria, King George will be in near company to Edward IV., Henry VIII.. Charles., George Hi., George IV. and William IV.

The beautiful chapel of St. George is a fitting resting-place for him. It is one of the finest examples of perpendicular architecture in England. A lofty but broad-windowed ' structure, glorious inside with the banners and insignia of the Knights of the Garter, it dominates the whole of the west end of the castle and rises above its walls. SECOND OF ITS NAME.

It is the second chapel of its name to be built at Windsor. When the chivalrous but flam buoyant Edward 11. established his dearlycherished order of the Knights of the Garter he took the little garrison chapel which had been built by Henry and reconstructed it. Rut this St. George’s was superseded by the far more magnificent St. George’s of to-day, built by Edward i\ . ; the original St. George's was pulled to pieces by Henry VJJ., who cut it down in size and made it into a Rady Chapel, intended for the tombhouse of his dynasty. After passing through Cardinal ' Wolsev’s hands, this chapel eventually was reconstructed by order of Queen \ ictoria as a memorial to her con-

sort, and is now named the Albert Memorial Chapel, containing a cenotaph of the Prince Consort and the tomb of Prince Consort and the tomb of Prince Eeopold, Duke of Albany. Rut Victoria and Albert were buried in the Royal mausoleum at Frogmore, also in the Windsor demesne.

Edward IV. was the first King to be buried in the present St. George's. He was interred to the north side of the altar, before the chapel was quite completed. The r.ave was vaulted about the year L 490, but the choir groining was not finished till 1507. The pendants from the fan vaulting of the choir mark a development in style, contrasting strongly with the simpler lines of the earlier nave vault. In 1516 the lantern and the rood-screening were completed, but the stabs and other furnishings were not finished until after 1519. The chapel was completed by Henry Vii., who, however, was buried at Westminster Abbey. The builder of St. George’s, Edward IV'., left directions in his will that a splendid tomb was to be erected with an effigy of himself in silver.’ To-day nothing remains of this but- part of the wrought iron grille which surrounded the tomb, one of the most elaborate and skilfully wrought pieces of iron-work in the world. r lhe next Sovereign to be buried in St. Georges Chapel was Henry VII., who directed that lu.s body should be placed beside that of Jane Seymour.

HENRY VIII.’S STRANGE TOMB. ! here ,is an odd story about Henry s tomb. Cardinal Wolsey, in the days of his power, had spent much money on having prepared lor himself an elaborate monument in bronze and marble. After his fall, his master laid hands on it and determined to utilise it for himself, after having filed off many cardinal’s bats and archiepiscopal crosses from the decoration, and replaced them by Ro\al crowns and Tudor roses. Rut he never found time or money to complete those parts of the canopy and root of the tomb which Wolsev h;ul not finished, and so, when he was placed in the vault below, the usurped monument above was like a torso, and most unsatistaetorv ill appearance. His three children.' Eduard \J.. Maiv Tudor and Elizabeth. gave no attention to their lathers tomb, and it was in a

state of shocking; disrepair when in 1646 the Long Parliament, declaring it was covered with “scandalous linages of saints and angels,’' ordered it to he demolished. The orass-work was sold lor £400; the empt\ sarcophagus, after 'being stored at A\ incisor. had a. surprising end, being used in 1806 for Lord Aelson, tomb in St. Paul’s Lathe- ( V ' 1 it can still be seen. C liarles I. was buried at St George s without service in 1640 after his execution. George 11/.. Leoi-gc |\ . and William IV. were all buried at Windsor, their funerals .it ingot being among the most solemn ever seen'in England. In each el these, however, the people took part to a very limited extent. Not many more than 30,000 wore able lymg-in-State of any one or these kings. Edward VII. was taken to St. George s after a funeral the like of "Inch had “not been seen in the memory of man.”- King Edward’s nanuer and achievement” of the oilier of Knights of the Carter are still on the walls, where hang also King George s banner and “achieve- • VS +r r o'* Ki,l « <>■’ England is c, >s the sovereign of the order. Queen Alexandra followed her hushand and six weeks ago Princess , ictoria "-as buried close close to hoi brother, or ce the heir to the throne. King George will bo with his own people. MAORIS’ G LIEF. KIXG KOI?OKI’s MESSAGE Electric Telegraph—Press Association .TE KHITf. Saturdav. I he Taranaki Herald publishes a translation of a message sent to the Governor-General. Viscount, Gal wav. I™'" the Maori King, King Ke.roki. T ‘‘ Sl .. r -—t''<‘ presence of the Angel 0,1 Death and with a lu avv l.e-irt 1 salute in you tli<- spirit of i,,is late tributes of sorrow Irnm the tribes «m<{ chiefs of the Maori people of

Aotearoa, I join in heartfelt sympathy at the loss of our father. The sheltering tree of the many has fallen. The piercing winds now sweep across the courtyard and the pain of sorrow piiaws unceasingly at the heart. “With bis Majesty King Edward VIII.. and her Majesty the Queen Mother, we reverently bow our heads in sorrow. May God in His mercy comfort and guide them and ail members of the Royal Family in this time of great tribulation. This is all. —lvor ok i. ” The following telegram was sent to the Prime Minister from the Maniapoto tribe at Te Kuiti:— “The Honourable the Native Minister. Wellington,— “Sir.— The Maniapoto tribes join in rendering sorrowful tribute to the memory of his late Majestv King George V. The lightning ‘ flashy across ilie heavens and tlu* thunder crashed when tli-e main pillar cl' the bouse jell asunder. Depart thou, the lather, to the conn -i! house of thine' illustrious ai testers. In the realms j

with his Majesty King Edward VIII. and the sorrowing Queen Mother, we mourn for him who in this mortal world now lies on the couch from which there is no rising, and on the pillow that will not fiiii. May God grant that the Royal Family will take comfort from the knowledge that multitudes throughout the world share in the grief for the father of the far flung British Empire. From us all.—Famabika Watroa, chairman of the Maniapoto Council.