View source for Guards' Chapel, Wellington Barracks

{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox building
| name                = The Guards' Chapel
| image               = Guards Chapel, Wellington Barracks - East end - geograph.org.uk - 351924.jpg
| image_size          = 
| former_names        = 
| alternate_names     = The Royal Military Chapel
| building_type       = [[Chapel]]
| architectural_style = [[Modern architecture|Modernist]]
| classification      = 
| location            = 
| address             = 
| location_city       = [[Westminster]], [[London]]
| location_country    = United Kingdom
| completion_date     = 1963
| opened_date         = 
| inauguration_date   = 
| architect           = 
| embedded            = 
{{Infobox historic site
| embed = yes
| designation1 = UK Grade II*
| designation1_offname = 
| designation1_partof = Royal Military chapel and cloister, south of Birdcage Walk, Wellington Barracks
| designation1_date = 9 January 1970<br />Amended 26 April 2012
| designation1_number = 1066441<ref name=NHLE>{{NHLE|num=1066441|desc=Guards Chapel|access-date=4 January 2018|mode=cs2}}</ref>}}
}}
[[File:Guards Chapel, Wellington Barracks - geograph.org.uk - 351922.jpg|thumb|Guards' Chapel, Wellington Barracks ]]
'''The Royal Military Chapel''', commonly known as the '''Guards' Chapel''', is a British Army place of worship that serves as the religious home of the [[Household Division]] at the [[Wellington Barracks]] in [[Westminster]], [[Greater London]]. Completed in 1838 in the style of a Greek temple and re-designed during the 1870s,{{sfn|Bromley|Bromley|2015|page=585}} the first chapel on the site was damaged by German bombing during [[the Blitz]] in 1940 and 1941.

On Sunday, 18 June 1944, the chapel was hit again, this time by a [[V-1 flying bomb]], during the morning service. The explosion of the bomb collapsed the concrete roof onto the congregation, which left 121 people killed and 141 injured (both military and civilian).

Using the memorials from the old chapel as foundations,{{sfn|Bromley|Bromley|2015|page=585}} a new chapel was built in a [[Modern architecture|Modernist]] style in 1963. In 1970 the building was made a [[Listed building|Grade II* listed building]].<ref name=NHLE/>

The [[Order of the Garter]] banner of [[Field marshal]] [[Harold Alexander, 1st Earl Alexander of Tunis]] was transferred from [[St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle]], to the Guards' Chapel following his death in 1969.<ref>{{cite web |title=Garter Banner Locations |url=https://www.stgeorges-windsor.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Garter-Banner-list-Oct-2018.pdf |website=St. George's Chapel Windsor |access-date=1 November 2021}}</ref>

==Memorial garden==
The [[Flanders Fields Memorial Garden]], dedicated to the memory of Guardsmen lost in the [[World War I|First World War]], was opened by Queen [[Elizabeth II]] in 2014 and occupies land next to the chapel.<ref name=BBCNov14>{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-29929463|title=The Queen leads remembrance events in London|publisher=[[BBC News Online]]|date=6 November 2014|access-date=6 November 2014}}</ref>

==Music==
In the 1970s an organ was installed by the firm of [[William Hill & Son & Norman & Beard Ltd.|Hill, Norman and Beard]] using material from an instrument at Glyndebourne as well as new pipework.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Guards Chapel |url=https://npor.org.uk/survey/N07766 |access-date=13 November 2024 |website=National Pipe Organ Register}}</ref> In addition to leading congregational singing, the organ accompanies the Chapel’s professional choir and works alongside military bands/ensembles. With the passing of time, it was decided that the organ was struggling to meet the demands placed on it, and in the 21st century the chapel commissioned a new organ from [[Harrison & Harrison|Harrison and Harrison]].<ref>{{Cite magazine |title=A cathedral quality pipe organ |url=http://guardsmagazine.com/features/2024-summer/01-organ.html |magazine=Guards Magazine}}</ref>

On the last Tuesday of each month, except in August, the chapel hosts a free 45-minute lunchtime concert featuring a wide variety of music.

==References==
{{Reflist}}

;Bibliography
*{{cite book|first1=Janet|last1=Bromley|first2=David|last2=Bromley|title=Wellington's Men Remembered Volume 2: A Register of Memorials to Soldiers who Fought in the Peninsular War and at Waterloo- Volume II: M to Z|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5IOuCAAAQBAJ|year=2015|publisher=Pen and Sword|isbn=978-1-4738-5768-1}}

==External links==
* {{Commons category-inline|Guards Chapel}}
* {{official website|https://www.householddivision.org.uk/guards-chapel-about}}
* [http://www.flyingbombsandrockets.com/V1_maintxtc.html Guards Chapel bombed by V1 on Sunday, 18 June 1944 – with photos]

{{Churches in Westminster}}
{{Authority control}}
{{coord|51.5003|-0.1356|region:GB_type:landmark|display=title}}

[[Category:1944 in London]]
[[Category:Churches bombed by the Luftwaffe in London]]
[[Category:Buildings and structures in the United Kingdom destroyed during World War II]]
[[Category:Chapels in London]]
[[Category:Church of England church buildings in the City of Westminster]]
[[Category:Guards Division (United Kingdom)]]
[[Category:G. E. Street buildings]]
[[Category:Grade II* listed churches in the City of Westminster]]
[[Category:Attacks on religious buildings and structures during World War II]]