Church of St Peter ad Vincula

Church of St Peter ad Vincula
Side of St Peter chapel that faces the place of execution on Tower Green
Church of St Peter ad Vincula The church in relation to the City of London
51°30′31″N 0°4′37″W / 51.50861°N 0.07694°W / 51.50861; -0.07694
Location	Tower Hamlets, London
Country	England
Denomination	Originally Catholic, now Church of England
History
Status	Active
Architecture
Years built	1519–20
Administration
Diocese	Royal Peculiar
Clergy
Chaplain(s)	Roger Hall

The Chapel Royal of St Peter ad Vincula ("St Peter in chains") is a Chapel Royal and the former parish church of the Tower of London. The chapel's name refers to the story of Saint Peter's imprisonment under Herod Agrippa in Jerusalem. Situated within the Tower's Inner Ward, its current building dates from 1520, although the church was likely established in the 12th century. This church for working residents was the second chapel established in the Tower after St John's, a smaller royal chapel built into the 11th century White Tower. A royal peculiar, under the jurisdiction of the monarch, the priest responsible for these chapels is the chaplain of the Tower, a canon and member of the Ecclesiastical Household. The canonry was abolished in 1685 but reinstated in 2012.

At St Peter's west end is a short tower, surmounted by a lantern bell-cote, and inside the church is a nave and shorter north aisle, lit by windows with cusped lights but no tracery, a typical Tudor design. The Chapel is probably best known as the burial place of some of the most famous prisoners executed at the Tower, including Queen Anne Boleyn, Queen Catherine Howard, the "nine-day Queen", Lady Jane Grey (with her husband Lord Guildford Dudley) and the Lord High Chancellor, Sir Thomas More.