St Georges Chapel Lecture 17.9.18

Celebrating the Arts Society’s Golden Anniversary in St Georges Chapel, Windsor

St George’s Chapel in Windsor provided the perfect setting for an evening with Jonathan Foyle, one of Britain’s best known architectural historians.

The writer, artist, TV presenter and Art Society lecturer appeared very much at home in one of the finest examples of Gothic architecture in England.

Standing in the burial place of 10 monarchs including Henry V111 and Charles 1, Jonathan gave a spellbinding history of the Chapel, its origins and inspirations to an audience of 300 people, delighting them with facts about the smallest details including the numerous Tudor roses adorning the ceiling.

The evening was part of a celebration of The Arts Society’s Golden Anniversary, with five local societies coming together to take part in this year’s Windsor Festival , one of  the premier UK music and arts festivals.

The lecture was attended by The Art Society Patron HRH The Duchess of Gloucester, and introduced by vice president Desmond Shawe-Taylor who thanked the Dean and Canons of Windsor for their help and support.  Each contributing society - Ascot, Englemere, Runnymede, Windsor afternoon and Windsor evening - displayed information about their own events and lectures for the guests as they left the Chapel after a captivating evening.

Most famously, the Chapel has been beamed into the television sets of almost 30 million people across the world as the setting for the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. St Georges Chapel which pre dates Westminster Abbey, is a community church,  not, as many people think,  the property of the Crown, State or Church of England. The  chapel does not have a Bishop and does not belong to any particular religious order.