Royal peculiar
Template:Short description Template:Use British English Template:Use dmy dates A royal peculiar is a Church of England parish or church exempt from the jurisdiction of the diocese and the province in which it lies, and subject to the direct jurisdiction of the monarch.
Definition
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.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> 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).<ref name=hey>Template:Cite book</ref> 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.Template:Sfnp
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.<ref name=hey/>Template:Sfnp The majority of royal peculiars that remain are within the Diocese of London.<ref name="aol">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Present day
London
- 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.<ref name="aol" />
- 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.<ref name=diocese1>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation
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- The Chapel Royal, St James's Palace<ref name="aol" />
- The Queen's Chapel, St James's Palace<ref name="aol" />
- The Chapel Royal, Hampton Court<ref name="aol" />
- The Chapel of St John the Evangelist in the White Tower of the Tower of London<ref name="aol" />
- The Chapel of St Peter ad Vincula in the Inner Ward of the Tower of London<ref name="aol" />
- The King's Chapel of the Savoy,<ref name="aol" /> inaugurated as a Chapel Royal in November 2016,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation
|CitationClass=web }}</ref> 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.<ref name="RVOBP">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
- The Chapel of St Mary Undercroft,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation
|CitationClass=web }}</ref> 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.<ref name=Observer>Template:Cite news</ref>
- The Royal Foundation of St Katharine<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation
|CitationClass=web }}</ref> founded in 1147 by Queen Matilda of England<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> 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<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation
|CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Edinburgh
- Chapel Royal, Holyrood Palace<ref name="aol" />
Cambridge
- The Church of St Edward, King and Martyr<ref name="aol" />
Windsor
- St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle, the Chapel of the Order of the Garter<ref name="aol" />
- Royal Chapel of All Saints (in the grounds of the Royal Lodge in Windsor Great Park)<ref name="aol" />
Former royal peculiars
- St Michael's Collegiate Church, Penkridge near Wolverhampton<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
- St Michael and All Angels' Church, Tettenhall, Wolverhampton 1247–1548<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation
|CitationClass=web }}</ref>
- Canons of Dover Priory, until 1130<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation
|CitationClass=web }}</ref>
- Holy Trinity, Minories, London, until 1730<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
- St Mary and St Alkelda, Middleham, North Yorkshire, until 1856<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
- 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)<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
- Wimborne Minster, Dorset, 1318–1846<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation
|CitationClass=web }}</ref>
- St Peter's Collegiate Church, Wolverhampton, 1479–1846<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
- 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,Template:Sfnp and was a peculiar under the jurisdiction of the Duchy of Cornwall with the dean appointed by the duke.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
- The Deanery of Bridgnorth, Shropshire, until 1856Template:Sfnp
- Dorchester Abbey in Dorchester on Thames, Oxfordshire, 1536–1837<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation
|CitationClass=web }}</ref>
- The Collegiate Church and Royal Free Chapel of St Mary the Virgin, St Mary's Church, Shrewsbury, until 1856Template:Sfnp
- St Mary's Church, Stafford<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
Non-royal peculiars
- St Mary-le-Bow, City of LondonTemplate:Sfnp (until 1850)
- The Parish of Hawarden, Flintshire, Wales<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation
|CitationClass=web }}</ref> (until 1849)
- The Parish of Southwick, Hampshire (St James, Southwick and St Nicholas, Boarhunt)Template:Efn<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation
|CitationClass=web }}</ref>
- Charterhouse chapel, Islington, London<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation
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- The Peculiar (or Peculier) of Masham, North YorkshireTemplate:Sfnp
- Church of St Mary the Virgin, Hornby, North Yorkshire<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
- Christ Church, OxfordTemplate:Efn<ref name=oxf1/>
- All college chapels of the University of Oxford
- Christ Church, Bath, Somerset<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation
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- Chapel of St Lawrence, Warminster, Wiltshire; bought by the townspeople in 1574, administered by feoffees.<ref>Template:National Heritage List for England</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation
|CitationClass=web }}</ref>
The following chapels of the Inns of Court are extra-diocesan, and therefore peculiars, but not royal:
- Lincoln's Inn Chapel<ref name=briden>Template:Cite book</ref>
- Gray's Inn Chapel<ref name=briden/>