Royal peculiar

The church parish system dates from the early Middle Ages, 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.{{sfn|Friar|2004|p=309}} There are several reasons for peculiars but usually they were held by a senior churchman from another district, parish or diocese, and gave livings (salaries or use of property) to those clergy chosen by the donor or donor's heir. 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).{{sfn|Hey|2008|p=532}} 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.{{sfn|Chisolm|1911|ref=Chisolm1911|loc=p 36. Line four onwards:- "As a term of ecclesiastical law "peculiar" is applied to....."}}

Most peculiars survived the Reformation but, with the exception of royal peculiars, were finally abolished during the 19th century by various Acts of Parliament and became subject to the jurisdiction of the diocese in which they lay, although a few non-royal peculiars still exist.{{sfn|Hey|2008|p=532}}{{sfn|Chisolm|1911|ref=Chisolm1911|loc=p 36. Line four onwards:- "As a term of ecclesiastical law "peculiar" is applied to....."}} The majority of royal peculiars that remain are within the Diocese of London.{{cite web|url=http://www.anglicansonline.org/uk-europe/england/dioceses/index.html#peculiar |title=Church of England | Dioceses |publisher=Anglicans Online |date=12 June 2011 |access-date=20 November 2012}}

Image:Westminster abbey west.jpg]]

• The Collegiate Church of St Peter at Westminster, commonly known as Westminster Abbey, and containing the Henry VII Chapel, which is the chapel of the Order of the Bath.
• 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. Since the 18th century, because the Bishop of London is customarily appointed the Dean of the Chapel Royal, the bishop typically has authority of these chapels as dean, instead of as bishop even though they are geographically within the Diocese of London.{{Cite web|url=https://www.london.anglican.org/about/the-dean-of-her-majestys-chapels-royal/|publisher=Diocese of London|location=London|title=The Dean of Her Majesty's Chapels Royal|access-date=21 March 2018}}
• The Chapel Royal, St James's Palace
• The Queen's Chapel, St James's Palace
• The Chapel Royal, Hampton Court
• The Chapel of St John the Evangelist in the White Tower of the Tower of London
• The Chapel of St Peter ad Vincula in the Inner Ward of the Tower of London
• The King's Chapel of the Savoy, inaugurated as a Chapel Royal in November 2016,{{Cite web|url=https://www.duchyoflancaster.co.uk/about-the-duchy/duties-of-the-duchy/the-queens-chapel-of-the-savoy/|title=The Queen's Chapel of the Savoy|publisher=The Duchy of Lancaster|year=2015|location=London|access-date=26 September 2019}} is a private chapel of the sovereign in right of the Duchy of Lancaster. It is the chapel of the Royal Victorian Order. 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.{{cite web |url = http://www.royal.gov.uk/MonarchUK/Honours/RoyalVictorianOrder.aspx |last=Royal Household |title = The Queen and the UK > Queen and Honours > Royal Victorian Order |website=royal.gov.uk |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20090719073143/http://www.royal.gov.uk/MonarchUK/Honours/RoyalVictorianOrder.aspx |archive-date=19 July 2009 |access-date=6 August 2009 }}
• The Chapel of St Mary Undercroft,{{cite web|url=http://www.parliament.uk/about/living-heritage/building/palace/estatehistory/the-middle-ages/chapel-st-mary-undercroft-/ |title=The Chapel of St Mary Undercroft – UK Parliament |publisher=Parliament.uk |date=21 April 2010 |access-date=20 November 2012}} 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 of St Margaret's, 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.{{cite news|last=Boffey|first=Daniel|title=First female Commons chaplain tells laddish MPs: grow up, boys|url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2011/nov/27/commons-chaplain-warns-mps|access-date=1 December 2020|newspaper=The Observer|date=27 November 2011}}
• The Royal Foundation of St Katharine{{Cite web|url=http://www.rfsk.org.uk/about|title=About Us|publisher=Royal Foundation of St Katherine|location=London|access-date=14 April 2014}} founded in 1147 by Queen Matilda of England[https://www.rfsk.org.uk/history History page of the Foundation's official website] as a religious community and medieval hospital for poor infirm people next to the Tower of London
• Temple Church, built in the 1100s by the Knights Templar in the City of London[https://www.innertemplelibrary.org.uk/inner-temple/history/temple-church/ Inner Temple Library website] (retrieved 10 August 2018)

• Chapel Royal, Holyrood Palace

• The Church of St Edward, King and Martyr

• St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle, the Chapel of the Order of the Garter
• Royal Chapel of All Saints (in the grounds of the Royal Lodge in Windsor Great Park)

• St Michael's Collegiate Church, Penkridge near Wolverhampton

G. C. Baugh, et al. [http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/staffs/vol3/pp298-303 "Colleges: Penkridge, St Michael"]. In: A History of the County of Stafford. Volume 3, ed. M. W. Greenslade and R. B. Pugh (London, 1970), pp. 298–303. Retrieved 23 June 2015.

• St Michael and All Angels' Church, Tettenhall, Wolverhampton 1247–1548{{cite web |url=http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/rd/d71530b1-51d7-4275-90c2-0bd1deb65aab|title=Tettenhall Royal Free Chapel |publisher=The National Archives |access-date=6 June 2015 }}
• Canons of Dover Priory, until 1130{{cite web |url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=38192 |title=Houses of Benedictine monks: The priory of Dover |editor=Willam Page |publisher=Institute of Historical Research |date=1926 |work=A History of the County of Kent: Volume 2 |pages=133–137|access-date=15 April 2014 }}
• Holy Trinity, Minories, London, until 1730{{sfn|Tomlinson|1907|loc=Chapter X}}
• St Mary and St Alkelda, Middleham, North Yorkshire, until 1856"Collegiate churches: Other churches (except Beverley and York)," in A History of the County of York: Volume 3, ed. William Page (London: Victoria County History, 1974), 359-375. British History Online, accessed June 15, 2021, http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/yorks/vol3/pp359-375.
• St Nicholas' Chapel, the free chapel of Tickhill Castle (West Riding of Yorkshire - now South Yorkshire). Founded by Eleanor of Aquitaine c1174. Dissolved in the reign of Edward VI (1547-1553)Tickhill - Portrait of an English Country Town. T.W. Beastall (Waterdale Press, 1995) pp. 62-63
• Wimborne Minster, Dorset, 1318–1846{{Cite web|url=http://www.wimborneminster.org.uk/113/a-brief-history-of-the-minster.html|title=A Brief History of the Minster|publisher=Wimborne Minster and the Northern Villages |access-date=7 June 2019}}
• St Peter's Collegiate Church, Wolverhampton, 1479–1846{{Cite web|url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/staffs/vol3/pp321-331 |title=Colleges: Wolverhampton, St Peter |editor1=M. W. Greenslade |editor2=R. B. |author1=G. C. Baugh |author2=L. W. Cowie |author3=J. C. Dickinson |author4=A. P. Duggan |author5=A. K. B. Evans |author6=R. H. Evans |author7=Una C. Hannam |author8=P. Heathn|author9=D. A. Johnston |author10=Hilda Johnstone | author11=Ann J. Kettle |author12=J. L. Kirby |author13=R. Mansfield |author14=A. Saltman |publisher=Institute of Historical Research |date=1970 |work= A History of the County of Stafford |volume=3 |access-date=16 April 2014 }}
• The Deanery of St Buryan, Cornwall, comprising St Buryan's Church in St Buryan, St Sennen's Church, Sennen, and St Levan's Church, St Levan, until 1850,{{sfn|Denton|1970|p=116}} and was a peculiar under the jurisdiction of the Duchy of Cornwall with the dean appointed by the duke.{{cite book |last1=Blight |first1=John Thomas |title=Churches of West Cornwall |date=1885 |publisher=Parker & Co |edition=2nd}}
• The Deanery of Bridgnorth, Shropshire, until 1856{{sfn|Denton|1970|p=109}}
• Dorchester Abbey in Dorchester on Thames, Oxfordshire, 1536–1837{{cite web |url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=63767&strquery=pec |title=Parishes: Dorchester |editor=Mary Lobel |publisher=Institute of Historical Research |date=1962 |work=A History of the County of Oxford |volume=Volume 7: Dorchester and Thame hundreds |access-date=16 April 2014 }}
• The Collegiate Church and Royal Free Chapel of St Mary the Virgin, St Mary's Church, Shrewsbury, until 1856{{sfn|Denton|1970|p=122}}
• St Mary's Church, Stafford{{cite web |url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=37873&strquery=peculiar |title=Colleges: Stafford, St Mary |editor1=M. W. Greenslade |editor2=R. B. |author1=G. C. Baugh |author2=L. W. Cowie |author3=J. C. Dickinson |author4=A. P. Duggan |author5=A. K. B. Evans |author6=R. H. Evans |author7=Una C. Hannam |author8=P. Heathn|author9=D. A. Johnston |author10=Hilda Johnstone | author11=Ann J. Kettle |author12=J. L. Kirby |author13=R. Mansfield |author14=A. Saltman |publisher=Institute of Historical Research |date=1970 |work=A History of the County of Stafford: Volume 3 |pages=39–64|access-date=27 November 2014 }}

• St Mary-le-Bow, City of London{{sfn|Hoskin|Brooke|Dobson|2005|pp=159-160}} (until 1850)
• The Parish of Hawarden, Flintshire, Wales{{cite web|url=http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/wal/FLN/Hawarden|title=GENUKI: Hawarden, Flintshire|access-date=10 September 2018}} (until 1849)
• The Parish of Southwick, Hampshire (St James, Southwick and St Nicholas, Boarhunt){{efn|The parish is unique in being a 'peculiar' parish (one of only two left in the country). The chaplain was not appointed by the bishop but by the squire who is officially the 'Lay Prior, Ordinary, Patron and Rector of the Peculiar and Parish of Southwick'. This has been the case since the dissolution of Southwick Priory, in 1539. St Nicholas, Boarhunt dates from 1064, and St James, Southwick (officially St James-without-the-priory-gate), may also be pre-Norman Conquest, although it has less surviving original fabric.{{Cite web|title=St James Southwick Parish Website|url=http://www.stjamessouthwick.org.uk/|access-date=6 May 2015|publisher=St James, Southwick}}}}{{cite web|title=St James, Southwick Page on the Portsmouth Diocese Website|url=http://portsmouth.anglican.org/who_we_are/deaneries/bishops_waltham/churches/st_james_southwick/?print=1&cHash=24985e4a64d5115e03c360294fb56e0a|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304230941/http://portsmouth.anglican.org/who_we_are/deaneries/bishops_waltham/churches/st_james_southwick/?print=1&cHash=24985e4a64d5115e03c360294fb56e0a|archive-date=4 March 2016|access-date=6 May 2015|publisher=Portsmouth Diocese|df=dmy-all}}
• Charterhouse chapel, Islington, London{{Cite web|title=Chapel Services|url=http://www.thecharterhouse.org/chapel-services|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140409064937/http://www.thecharterhouse.org/chapel-services/|archive-date=9 April 2014|access-date=14 April 2014|publisher=The Charterhouse|location=London|df=dmy-all}}
• The Peculiar (or Peculier) of Masham, North Yorkshire{{sfn|Hoskin|Brooke|Dobson|2005|p=2}}
• Church of St Mary the Virgin, Hornby, North Yorkshire{{cite book|last=McCall|first=H. B.|title=Richmondshire Churches|url=https://archive.org/details/richmondshirechu00mccaiala|year=1910|publisher=E Stock|location=London|oclc=6723172|page=[https://archive.org/details/richmondshirechu00mccaiala/page/58 58] }}
• Christ Church, Oxford{{efn|Christ Church is a joint foundation of a College of Oxford and the Cathedral Church of the Diocese of Oxford. The Crown is the "Visitor" of the cathedral not the Bishop.{{Cite web|url=http://d307gmaoxpdmsg.cloudfront.net/collegeaccounts1617/Christ_Church.pdf|title=Annual Report and Financial Statements|date=2017-07-31|publisher=Christ Church|page=5|access-date=2020-12-01}}}}
• All college chapels of the University of Oxford
• Christ Church, Bath, Somerset{{Cite web|url=http://christchurchbath.org/index.php/church-life/history|title=Christ Church, Bath website|access-date=16 January 2016}}
• Chapel of St Lawrence, Warminster, Wiltshire; bought by the townspeople in 1574, administered by feoffees.{{National Heritage List for England|num=1193945|desc=Chapel of St Lawrence|access-date=29 October 2020}}{{Cite web|title=St Lawrence Chapel Warminster|url=https://www.stlawrencechapelwarminster.co.uk/|access-date=2020-10-29|language=en}}

The following chapels of the Inns of Court are extra-diocesan, and therefore peculiars, but not royal:

• Lincoln's Inn Chapel{{sfn|Briden|2013|p=61}}
• Gray's Inn Chapel{{sfn|Briden|2013|p=61}}

• Exemption (Catholic canon law)
• Extra-parochial area
• Proprietary chapel

• Demesne
• Imperial immediacy
• Independent city

{{notelist}}

{{reflist|30em}}

{{Refbegin}}

• {{cite book|last=Atthill|first=William |title=Documents Relating to the Foundation and Antiquities of the Collegiate Church of Middleham, in the County of York: With an Historical Introduction, and Incidental Notices of the Castle, Town, and Neighbourhood|url={{google books|id=cVtXAAAAcAAJ|page=28|plainurl=yes}}|year=1847|publisher=Camden Society|location=London}}
• {{cite book|last=Briden|first=Timothy|title=Moore's Introduction to English Canon Law: Fourth Edition|url={{google books|id=iQJMAQAAQBAJ|page=61|plainurl=yes}}|year=2013|publisher=A&C Black|isbn=978-1-4411-6868-9}}
• {{cite EB1911|wstitle= Peculiar |editor-last=Chisolm|editor-first =Hugh|ref=Chisolm1911|volume= 21 | page= 36, line four on |quote= As a term of ecclesiastical law “peculiar” is applied to.....}}
• {{cite book|last=Denton|first=Jeffrey Howard |title=English Royal Free Chapels, 1100-1300: A Constitutional Study|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9HK7AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA116|year=1970|publisher=Manchester University Press|isbn=978-0-7190-0405-6}}
• {{Cite book|last=Friar|first=Stephen|title=The Sutton Companion to Local History|publisher=Sutton|location=Stroud|year=2004|isbn=0-7509-2723-2}}
• {{cite book|last=Hey|first=David |author-link=David Hey|title=The Oxford Companion to Family and Local History|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eicMAQAAMAAJ|year=2008|publisher=OUP |location=Oxford|isbn=978-0-19-953298-8}}
• {{Cite book|editor1-last=Hoskin|editor1-first=Philippa|editor2-last= Brooke|editor2-first=Christopher|editor3-last=Dobson|editor3-first= Barrie|title= The Foundations of Medieval English Ecclesiastical History: Studies Presented to David Smith (Studies in the History of Medieval Religion)|publisher=Boydell Press|location=Woodbridge|year=2005|isbn=1-84383-169-4|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7ZhXX_5BQ_IC&pg=PA2}}
• {{Cite book|title=A History of the Minories|location=London|year=1907|last=Tomlinson|first= Edward Murray|publisher=Smith, Elder & Co|url=https://archive.org/details/historyofminorie00tomluoft}}

{{refend}}

• {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20110728174328/http://www.westminsterstmargaret.org/churches-in-westminster.html Deanery of Westminster – extra-parochial places]}}
• [http://www.dca.gov.uk/majrep/royalp.htm Report of Review Group on the Royal Peculiars, 2001]
• [http://www.royal.gov.uk/MonarchUK/Honours/RoyalVictorianOrder.aspx The British Monarchy – Royal Victorian Order]
• [http://anglicansonline.org/uk-europe/england/dioceses/index.html#peculiar Listing and description] from Anglicans Online

{{Royal Peculiars}}

Category:Church of England

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Category:Monarchy of the United Kingdom