St Mary Undercroft
| Chapel of Saint Mary Undercroft | |
|---|---|
| Chapel of Saint Mary Undercroft | |
| Coordinates: 51°29′58″N 0°7′30″W / 51.49944°N 0.12500°W | |
| Location | Palace of Westminster, London |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Denomination | Church of England |
| History | |
| Founded | 1297[1] |
| Dedication | Blessed Virgin Mary |
| Administration | |
| Diocese | Royal Peculiar |
| Laity | |
| Director of music | Simon Over |
The Chapel of St Mary Undercroft is a Church of England chapel in the Palace of Westminster.
It had been a crypt below St Stephen's Chapel and had fallen into disuse. After a fire had destroyed St Stephen's Chapel it returned to its former use as a place of worship. It is still used for this purpose today. In particular, children of peers, who possess the title of "The Honourable", have the privilege of being able to use it as a wedding venue. In addition, members of parliament and peers have the right to use the chapel as a place of christening.[2]
It is a Royal Peculiar chapel[3] - outside the responsibility of any diocesan bishop. 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 to nominate an outsider, Revd. Rose Hudson-Wilkin as the Speaker's Chaplain.
The body of former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher was kept in St Mary Undercroft on the night before her funeral in April 2013.[4] The honour was also accorded for the body of Tony Benn, the long serving Labour politician, before his funeral in March 2014.[5]
References
- ↑ "The Chapel of St Mary Undercroft - UK Parliament". Parliament.uk. 2010-04-21. Retrieved 2014-04-24.
- ↑ Emma Crewe, Lords of Parliament: Manners, Rituals and Politics (2005, ISBN 0719072077), p. 97
- ↑ "The Chapel of St Mary Undercroft - UK Parliament". Parliament.uk. 21 April 2010. Retrieved 20 November 2012.
- ↑ "Westminster service remembers Baroness Thatcher". BBC News Online. 16 April 2013. Retrieved 19 March 2014.
- ↑ "Queen approves Tony Benn overnight vigil in Parliament's chapel". BBC News Online. 20 March 2014. Retrieved 20 March 2014.
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