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Over
900 years old, the chapel of St John has had a unique history
as a royal chapel and a national record office. This has led
to many periods where it was not used as a place of
worship. It is now recognised as one of the finest
examples of Romanesque architecture in the British Isles.
Constructed as part of the White Tower in the late eleventh
century, St John’s chapel was probably intended to be used by
the royal family while in residence at the Tower of London.
Recent work has shown that the chapel was part of the
building’s original design and was not added as an
afterthought.
It is not clear how often the chapel was used in its early
history, but in 1240 Henry III ordered it to be redecorated.
This included three stained glass windows, as well as painted
figures of St Edward and St John the Evangelist. Eighty years
later, however, Edward II ordered that documents from the
Royal Exchequer be moved into the White Tower, and it appears
that they were stored in St John’s chapel. This arrangement is
unlikely to have lasted until the documents were probably
cleared so that the chapel could be used by the imprisoned
French King, Jean II, who was held in the White Tower in 1360.
After Jean’s release, the chapel appears to have regained its
religious role, and 1399 saw the first confirmed ceremony of
the Knights of the Bath, who held an all-night vigil in the
chapel on the eve of Henry IV’s coronation. This ceremony
continued to be held in St John’s until the coronation of
Elizabeth I in 1559, when it was moved to the Chapel of St
Peter ad Vincula.
By 1570, state records had once again been stored in the
chapel, and they were to stay here until they were removed in
1858. Large presses were installed to help store the
documents, the altar was removed and a spiral staircase was
installed to allow easier access to the triforium gallery.
Despite these alterations and its use as a record office, many
observers still noted the importance of the chapel’s
architecture, with William Ainsworth claiming that part of
his motivation for writing his 1840 book The Tower
of London; A Historical Romance was the fact that St John’s
was not open to the public.
In 1858, the new Public Record Office was opened in Chancery
Lane and the documents were moved out of St John’s. The
military initially proposed that it become an army clothing
store; the intervention of Prince Albert, however, ensured
that it was returned to religious use. Renovation works took
place under Anthony Salvin, who removed the spiral staircase
and installed a new tiled floor. The chapel was soon opened to
the public and was used for religious services by
non-conformist members of the Tower’s garrison. After several
requests, the Office of Works eventually agreed to place a
permanent altar in the chapel in 1878 to assist with their
worship.
In the winter of 1968-1969, the chapel underwent some further
renovations. Salvin’s tiled floor was removed (although it can
still be seen under the altar and in the triforium), and
replaced by modern paving. The Victorian altar was also
removed and replaced with a modern example, which remained in
situ until 1998. In that year, the Victorian altar was located
and restored to the chapel.
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