Savoy Chapel

King's Chapel of the Savoy
View of the associated green and the chapel's east side, from Savoy Street
King's Chapel of the Savoy
51°30′38″N 0°07′12″W / 51.5105°N 0.1199°W / 51.5105; -0.1199
OS grid reference	TQ 30568 80743
Location	Liberty of the Savoy, near Temple, London
Country	England
Denomination	Church of England
Previous denomination	Lutheran Catholic
Website	royalchapelsavoy.org
History
Status	Royal Peculiar
Architecture
Functional status	Active
Architect(s)	Richard Griffiths Architects (renovations)[1]
Style	Tudor; Perpendicular
Completed	1512
Specifications
Length	Nave: 200 ft (61 m)
Number of towers	1
Materials	Stone
Administration
Province	Canterbury
Diocese	London (location)
Clergy
Chaplain(s)	Rev. Canon Thomas M B Woodhouse
Laity
Director of music	Philip Berg
Organist(s)	Justin Luke
Listed Building – Grade II*
Official name	Savoy Chapel (King's Chapel of the Savoy)
Designated	24 February 1958
Reference no.	1264731[2]

The King's Chapel of St John the Baptist in the Precinct of the Savoy, also known as the King's Chapel of the Savoy (called The Queen's Chapel during much of modern history in the reigns of Victoria and Elizabeth II), is a church in the City of Westminster, London. Facing it are 111 Strand, the Savoy Hotel, the Institution of Engineering and Technology and – across the green to its side – the east side of Savoy Street. The chapel is designated as a Grade II* listed building.^[2]

The chapel sits on the site of the Savoy Palace, once owned by the prince John of Gaunt, that was destroyed in the Peasants' Revolt of 1381. Gaunt's Duchy of Lancaster, the owner of the site of the palace, eventually came into the hands of the monarch. Work was begun on the chapel in 1502 under King Henry VII and it received its first charter to operate as a hospital foundation in 1512 to look after 100 poor and needy men of London. The hospital had fallen into ruin by the late 18th century; only the chapel survived the consequent demolition, which as to the hospital's eastern end was ceded for an approach to Waterloo Bridge.

The chapel is still owned by the Duchy of Lancaster and as such is a Royal Peculiar – outside the jurisdiction of a diocese, but under that of the reigning monarch. It is the chapel of the Royal Victorian Order, whose full gathering takes place at St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle, to accommodate those numbers. In 2016, the church was brought under the Chapel Royal for ecclesiastical purposes.