around the parishes...

Photographs by Patrick Comerford
From left: The memorial to Charles I at the Banqueting House, recalling his execution in Whitehall in 1649; The changing of the
guard takes place every hour at Horse Guards Parade in Whitehall; The South Front of Lambeth Palace, rebuilt for Archbishop
William Howley in the mid-19th century; Morton’s Tower, the main entrance to Lambeth Palace, was built by Cardinal Morton in the
late 15th century; Lambeth Palace has been the official London residence of the Archbishops of Canterbury since the 13th century.
Lambeth Palace, seen from Westminster
on the opposite bank of the River Thames.
of the disestablishment of the Church Ireland.
The chapter includes the dean and four
residentiary canons – the canon treasurer, the
canon steward, the canon theologian and the
Rector of Saint Margaret’s Church – assisted by
the Receiver-General and the Chapter Clerk.
In the west cloister of Westminster Abbey, a
curious marble monument recalls Arthur
O’Keeffe, who died in 1756. It claims he was
“lineally descended from the Kings of Ireland,
the best of Husbands and the worthiest of Men.
Deceit and Guile he knew not: Honesty was an
innate principle in him.”
The Palace of Whitehall
If Westminster is the heart of British
parliamentary life and democracy, then
Whitehall is the heart of government and takes
its name from the Palace of Whitehall, the main
London residence of monarchs from 1530,
when they moved from Westminster, until
1698, when the palace was destroyed by fire.
Archbishop Walter de Grey of York bought
the property around 1240 and named it York
Place. It was rebuilt in the 15th century and was
expanded by Cardinal Wolsey so that it was
rivalled only by Lambeth Palace as the greatest
house in London – not even the king’s London
palaces were as large.
When Cardinal Wolsey was removed from
office in 1530, Henry VIII moved his main
London residence from the Palace of
Westminster to York Place, and the name
Whitehall is first recorded in 1532. Henry VIII
redesigned, extended and rebuilt the palace;
there he married two of his wives, Anne Boleyn
in 1533 and Jane Seymour in 1536; and there he
died in 1547.
Inigo Jones designed a new Banqueting
House for James I in 1622. Its was completed in
1634 with a ceiling by Sir Peter Paul Rubens,
who was commissioned by Charles I. However,
Charles I did not have a happy association with
Whitehall – he was executed at the Banqueting
House in 1649. One son, Charles II, died there
in 1685. Another son, James II, commissioned
Sir Christopher Wren to make a number of
alterations and to design a new chapel.
By 1691, Whitehall was the largest palace in
Europe, with over 1,500 rooms – larger than
either the Vatican or Versailles. However, a fire
Left: The Guard Room at Lambeth Palace, seen from the South Courtyard, was the
Great Chamber in mediaeval and Tudor times. Centre: Westminster Cathedral
stands on land once owned by the Benedictines of Westminster Abbey. Right:
Westminster Cathedral was built in the neo-Byzantine style between 1895 and 1903.
in 1698 destroyed most of Whitehall, apart
from the Banqueting House and some buildings
in Scotland Yard. By the second half of the 18th
century, much of the site had been cleared and
leased for building town houses.
The Banqueting House, used for some time
as a chapel for the Horse Guards, is now
administered by the Historic Royal Palaces. The
memory of the palace survives in Whitehall, the
name of the street lined with so many
government buildings that we often speak of
“Whitehall” when referring to Britain’s central
government itself.
The Banqueting House is all that remains of
the palace complex today, although other parts
have been incorporated into government
buildings in Whitehall, including the Old
Treasury, the Cabinet Office, the Ministry of
Defence, the Cabinet war rooms and Downing
Street. Nearby are the Cenotaph and
monuments to famous generals and the women
who fought in wars. Opposite the Banqueting
House, the changing of the guard at Horse
Guards is less visited than its counterpart at
Buckingham Palace.
The archbishop’s own palace
Lambeth Palace is across the river from the
Palace of Westminster, and stands on the south
bank of the Thames. This has been the official
London residence of the Archbishops of
Canterbury since the 13th century. Today, it is
the central office for the archbishop and for his
national and international ministry.
In summer, the grounds of Lambeth Palace are
often used for garden parties for organisations
and charities supported by Archbishop Rowan
Williams and Mrs Jane Williams, and the Great
Hall is used for receptions and events.
As summer drew to a close, I was invited to
an exhibition in the Library in Lambeth Palace,
with its unrivalled collection of manuscripts and
rare books. That evening we were joined by the
Archbishop of Canterbury at a buffet supper in
the Guard Room. This room may date from the
14th century, but Lambeth Palace probably
dates back to the late 12th century.
The Guard Room was the Great Chamber in
mediaeval and Tudor times and one of the most
important rooms in the palace until the 16th
century. It is said Thomas More was summoned
here by Thomas Cromwell to swear an Oath of
Supremacy. But More refused to deny the
authority of the Pope, and was led from
Lambeth Palace to the Tower of London and his
execution in 1535.
The Guard Room is lined with portraits of
Archbishops of Canterbury from 1602 to 1783
– from the reign of Elizabeth I to the reign of
George III – illustrating the changes in episcopal
fashions over the centuries. The magnificent
arch-braced roof is a contemporary of that in
Westminster Hall – across the river in the
Palace of Westminster – and predates the walls
by 400 years.
I left Lambeth Palace by Morton’s Tower, said
to be based on the entrance to Saint John’s
College in Cambridge, where Cardinal John
Morton, the Archbishop of Canterbury who
gives his name to the tower, was a fellow.
From there, I walked across Lambeth Bridge
and on to Victoria Station to catch a train to
King’s Cross and back to Cambridge. Near
Victoria I stood before Westminster Cathedral,
built in the neo-Byzantine style between 1895
and 1903 for the Roman Catholic community. It
stands on land once owned by the Benedictines
of Westminster Abbey, and I thought it
interesting that all three palaces I visited this
year represent the life of Church and State in
their own unique way.
Canon Patrick Comerford is Lecturer in
Anglicanism and Liturgy, the Church of
Ireland Theological Institute, and a canon
of Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin.
http://revpatrickcomerford.blogspot.com
ChurCh review 5