St John's Chapel, Tower of London

St John’s Chapel stands inside the White Tower, the oldest part of the Tower of London. Built in 1080 from Caen stone brought from France, it is the only complete Norman chapel still standing in England. The chapel has a simple tunnel-vaulted nave with groin-vaulted aisles and a rounded east apse. Round piers carry plain unmoulded arches decorated only by scallop and leaf carvings. Above the nave runs a gallery that curves around the apse. The chapel was part of William the Conqueror’s fortress and served as the setting for royal ceremonies. In the 13th century Henry III added three stained glass windows, and services continue to be held there today. From 1100 to 1312 Knights of the Bath were inducted here the night before coronations. During the Peasants’ Revolt of 1381 a mob dragged Archbishop Simon Sudbury from mass in the chapel and killed him outside. Visitors enter through the White Tower’s ground floor and find the chapel’s austere Norman interior still lit by narrow windows. The thick stone walls and simple vaults give a sense of the fortress’s early strength. The gallery above the nave offers a view down into the chapel below. The chapel’s plain arches and restrained carvings show the unadorned style of the Normans.