The Temple Church is a
Royal peculiar church in the
City of London
The City of London is a city, ceremonial county and local government district that contains the historic centre and constitutes, alongside Canary Wharf, the primary central business district (CBD) of London. It constituted most of London f ...
located between
Fleet Street
Fleet Street is a major street mostly in the City of London. It runs west to east from Temple Bar at the boundary with the City of Westminster to Ludgate Circus at the site of the London Wall and the River Fleet from which the street was n ...
and the
River Thames
The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after the ...
, built by the
Knights Templar
The Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon ( la, Pauperes commilitones Christi Templique Salomonici), also known as the Order of Solomon's Temple, the Knights Templar, or simply the Templars, was a Catholic military order, o ...
as their English headquarters. It was consecrated on 10 February 1185 by
Patriarch Heraclius of Jerusalem
Heraclius or Eraclius ( 1128 – 1190/91), was archbishop of Caesarea and Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem.
Origin and early career
Heraclius was from the Gévaudan in Auvergne, France. Like his later rival William of Tyre he studied law at the Unive ...
. During the reign of
King John King John may refer to:
Rulers
* John, King of England (1166–1216)
* John I of Jerusalem (c. 1170–1237)
* John Balliol, King of Scotland (c. 1249–1314)
* John I of France (15–20 November 1316)
* John II of France (1319–1364)
* John I o ...
(1199–1216) it served as the royal treasury, supported by the role of the Knights Templar as proto-international bankers. It is now jointly owned by the
Inner Temple
The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as the Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court and is a professional associations for barristers and judges. To be called to the Bar and practise as a barrister in England and W ...
and
Middle Temple
The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known simply as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court exclusively entitled to call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple, Gray's Inn ...
Inns of Court
The Inns of Court in London are the professional associations for barristers in England and Wales. There are four Inns of Court – Gray's Inn, Lincoln's Inn, Inner Temple and Middle Temple.
All barristers must belong to one of them. They have ...
, bases of the English legal profession. It is famous for being a
round church, a common design feature for Knights Templar churches, and for its 13th- and 14th-century stone
effigies. It was heavily damaged by German bombing during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
and has since been greatly restored and rebuilt.
The area around the Temple Church is known as the
Temple
A temple (from the Latin ) is a building reserved for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. Religions which erect temples include Christianity (whose temples are typically called church (building), churches), Hindui ...
.
Temple Bar, an ornamental processional gateway, formerly stood in the middle of Fleet Street. Nearby is
Temple Underground station.
History
Construction
In the mid-12th century, before the construction of the church, the Knights Templar in London had met at a site in
High Holborn in a structure originally established by
Hugues de Payens (the site had been historically the location of a
Roman temple in
Londinium, now known as London). Because of the rapid growth of the
order
Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to:
* Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood
* Heterarchy, a system of organization wherein the elements have the potential to be ranked a number of d ...
, by the 1160s the site had become too confined, and the order purchased the current site for the establishment of a larger
monastic complex as their headquarters in England. In addition to the church, the new compound originally contained residences, military training facilities, and recreational grounds for the military
brethren and novices, who were not permitted to go into the City without the permission of the Master of the Temple.
The church building comprises two separate sections: The original circular church building, called the Round Church and now acting as a
nave
The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-typ ...
, and a later rectangular section adjoining on the east side, built approximately half a century later, forming the
chancel
In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may terminate in an apse.
...
.
After the capture of Jerusalem in 1099 by the Crusaders, the
Dome of the Rock
The Dome of the Rock ( ar, قبة الصخرة, Qubbat aṣ-Ṣakhra) is an Islamic shrine located on the Temple Mount in the Old City of Jerusalem, a site also known to Muslims as the ''al-Haram al-Sharif'' or the Al-Aqsa Compound. Its initia ...
was given to the Augustinians, who turned it into
a church (while the
Jami Al-Aqsa became a royal palace). Because the Dome of the Rock was the site of the Temple of Solomon, the Knights Templar set up their headquarters in the Al-Aqsa Mosque adjacent to the Dome for much of the 12th century. The ''
Templum Domini
The ''Templum Domini'' (Vulgate translation of Hebrew: "Temple of the Lord") was the name attributed by the Crusaders to the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem.
It became an important symbol of Jerusalem, depicted on coins minted under the Catholic ...
'', as they called the Dome of the Rock, featured on the official seals of the Order's Grand Masters (such as
Everard des Barres and
Renaud de Vichiers), and along with the
Church of the Holy Sepulchre upon which it was based soon became the architectural model for Round Templar churches across Europe.
The round church is in
diameter
In geometry, a diameter of a circle is any straight line segment that passes through the center of the circle and whose endpoints lie on the circle. It can also be defined as the longest chord of the circle. Both definitions are also valid fo ...
, and contains within it a circle of the earliest known surviving free-standing
Purbeck Marble
Purbeck Marble is a fossiliferous limestone found in the Isle of Purbeck, a peninsula in south-east Dorset, England. It is a variety of Purbeck stone that has been quarried since at least Roman times as a decorative building stone.
Geology
St ...
columns. It is probable that the walls and grotesque heads were originally painted in colours.
It was
consecrated
Consecration is the solemn dedication to a special purpose or service. The word ''consecration'' literally means "association with the sacred". Persons, places, or things can be consecrated, and the term is used in various ways by different grou ...
on 10 February 1185 by
Heraclius
Heraclius ( grc-gre, Ἡράκλειος, Hērákleios; c. 575 – 11 February 641), was Eastern Roman emperor from 610 to 641. His rise to power began in 608, when he and his father, Heraclius the Elder, the exarch of Africa, led a revolt ...
,
Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem. It is believed that King
Henry II (1154–1189) was present at the consecration.
1185–1307
The Knights Templar order was very powerful in England, with the Master of the Temple sitting in
parliament
In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. ...
as ''primus baro'' (the first
baron in precedence of the realm). The compound was regularly used as a residence by kings and by
legates of the
Pope
The pope ( la, papa, from el, πάππας, translit=pappas, 'father'), also known as supreme pontiff ( or ), Roman pontiff () or sovereign pontiff, is the bishop of Rome (or historically the patriarch of Rome), head of the worldwide Cathol ...
. The Temple also served as an early safety-deposit bank, sometimes in defiance of the Crown's attempts to seize the funds of nobles who had entrusted their wealth there. The quasi-supra-national independent network and great wealth of the Order throughout Europe, and the jealousy this caused in secular kingdoms, is considered by most commentators to have been the primary cause of its eventual downfall.
In January 1215
William Marshall (who is buried in the nave next to his sons, and is represented by one of the nine stone
effigies) served as a negotiator during a meeting in the Temple between King
John and the
barons, who demanded that the king should uphold the rights enshrined in the
Coronation Charter of his predecessor and elder brother King
Richard I. Marshall swore on behalf of the king that the grievances of the barons would be addressed in the summer, which led to the signing by the king of
Magna Carta
(Medieval Latin for "Great Charter of Freedoms"), commonly called (also ''Magna Charta''; "Great Charter"), is a royal charter of rights agreed to by King John of England at Runnymede, near Windsor, Berkshire, Windsor, on 15 June 1215. ...
in June.
Marshall later became
regent
A regent (from Latin : ruling, governing) is a person appointed to govern a state ''pro tempore'' (Latin: 'for the time being') because the monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge the powers and duties of the monarchy, ...
during the reign of John's infant son, King
Henry III (1216–1272). Henry later expressed a desire to be buried in the church and, to accommodate this, in the early 13th century the
chancel
In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may terminate in an apse.
...
of the original church was pulled down and a new larger chancel was built, the basic form of which survives today. It was consecrated on
Ascension Day 1240 and comprises a central aisle and two side
aisle
An aisle is, in general, a space for walking with rows of non-walking spaces on both sides. Aisles with seating on both sides can be seen in airplanes, certain types of buildings, such as churches, cathedrals, synagogues, meeting halls, parl ...
s, north and south, of identical width. The height of the vault is . Although one of Henry's infant sons was buried in the chancel, Henry himself later altered his will to reflect his new wish to be buried in
Westminster Abbey
Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an historic, mainly Gothic church in the City of Westminster, London, England, just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is one of the United ...
.
Crown seizure
After the destruction and abolition of the Knights Templar in 1307, King
Edward II
Edward II (25 April 1284 – 21 September 1327), also called Edward of Caernarfon, was King of England and Lord of Ireland from 1307 until he was deposed in January 1327. The fourth son of Edward I, Edward became the heir apparent to ...
took control of the church as a Crown possession. It was later given to the
Knights Hospitaller
The Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem ( la, Ordo Fratrum Hospitalis Sancti Ioannis Hierosolymitani), commonly known as the Knights Hospitaller (), was a medieval and early modern Catholic military order. It was headq ...
, who leased the Temple to two colleges of lawyers. One college moved into the part of the Temple previously used by the Knights, and the other into the part previously used by its clergy, and both shared the use of the church. The colleges evolved into the
Inner Temple
The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as the Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court and is a professional associations for barristers and judges. To be called to the Bar and practise as a barrister in England and W ...
and the
Middle Temple
The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known simply as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court exclusively entitled to call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple, Gray's Inn ...
, two of the four London
Inns of Court
The Inns of Court in London are the professional associations for barristers in England and Wales. There are four Inns of Court – Gray's Inn, Lincoln's Inn, Inner Temple and Middle Temple.
All barristers must belong to one of them. They have ...
.
16th–19th centuries
In 1540 the church became the property of
the Crown
The Crown is the state in all its aspects within the jurisprudence of the Commonwealth realms and their subdivisions (such as the Crown Dependencies, overseas territories, provinces, or states). Legally ill-defined, the term has differen ...
once again when King
Henry VIII
Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is best known for his six marriages, and for his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disagr ...
abolished the Knights Hospitaller in England and confiscated their property. Henry provided a priest for the church under the former title "Master of the Temple". In the 1580s the church was the scene of the ''Battle of the
Pulpit
A pulpit is a raised stand for preachers in a Christian church. The origin of the word is the Latin ''pulpitum'' (platform or staging). The traditional pulpit is raised well above the surrounding floor for audibility and visibility, access ...
s'', a
theological
Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing th ...
conflict between the
Puritans
The Puritans were English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries who sought to purify the Church of England of Catholic Church, Roman Catholic practices, maintaining that the Church of England had not been fully reformed and should become m ...
and supporters of the
Elizabethan Compromise.
Shakespeare
William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...
was familiar with the site and the church and garden feature in his play ''
Henry VI, part 1'' as the setting for the fictional scene of the plucking of two roses of York and Lancaster and the start of the
Wars of the Roses
The Wars of the Roses (1455–1487), known at the time and for more than a century after as the Civil Wars, were a series of civil wars fought over control of the English throne in the mid-to-late fifteenth century. These wars were fought be ...
. In 2002 this event was commemorated with the planting of new white and red roses in the modern gardens.
Following an agreement in 1608 by King
James I, the two Inns were granted use of the church in perpetuity on condition that they should support and maintain it. They continue to use the Temple church as their ceremonial chapel.
The church escaped damage in the
Great Fire of London
The Great Fire of London was a major conflagration that swept through central London from Sunday 2 September to Thursday 6 September 1666, gutting the medieval City of London inside the old Roman city wall, while also extending past th ...
of 1666. Nevertheless, it was refurbished by
Christopher Wren
Sir Christopher Wren PRS FRS (; – ) was one of the most highly acclaimed English architects in history, as well as an anatomist, astronomer, geometer, and mathematician-physicist. He was accorded responsibility for rebuilding 52 churc ...
, who made extensive modifications to the interior, including the addition of an altar screen and the installation of the church's first organ. The church underwent a
Victorian restoration
The Victorian restoration was the widespread and extensive refurbishment and rebuilding of Church of England churches and cathedrals that took place in England and Wales during the 19th-century reign of Queen Victoria. It was not the same proce ...
in 1841 by Smirke and Burton, who decorated the walls and ceiling in high
Victorian Gothic style in an attempt to return the church back to its supposed original appearance. Further restoration work was executed in 1862 by
James Piers St Aubyn.
Twentieth century
On 10 May 1941,
German incendiary bombs set the roof of the Round Church on fire, and the fire quickly spread to the nave and chapel. The organ and all the wooden parts of the church, including the Victorian renovations, were destroyed and the Purbeck marble columns in the chancel cracked due to the intense heat. Although these columns still provided some support to the vault, they were deemed unsound and were replaced in identical form. The original columns had a slight outward lean, which architectural quirk was followed in the replacement columns. The Master's House was burned down on the same night.
During the renovation by the architect
Walter Godfrey, it was discovered that elements of the 17th-century renovations made by
Wren
Wrens are a family of brown passerine birds in the predominantly New World family Troglodytidae. The family includes 88 species divided into 19 genera. Only the Eurasian wren occurs in the Old World, where, in Anglophone regions, it is commonl ...
had survived in storage and these were replaced in their original positions. The church was rededicated in November 1958.
The church was designated a Grade I
listed building
In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern I ...
on 4 January 1950.
[
]
Use
Among other purposes, the church was originally used for Templar initiation ceremonies. In England the ceremony involved new recruits entering the Temple via the western door at dawn. The initiates entered the circular nave and then took monastic vows of piety, chastity, poverty and obedience. The details of initiation ceremonies were always a closely guarded secret, which later contributed to the Order's downfall as gossip and rumours spread about possible blasphemous usages. These rumours were manipulated and exploited by the Order's enemies, such as King Philip IV of France
Philip IV (April–June 1268 – 29 November 1314), called Philip the Fair (french: Philippe le Bel), was King of France from 1285 to 1314. By virtue of his marriage with Joan I of Navarre, he was also King of Navarre as Philip I from 1 ...
, to fabricate a pretext for the order's suppression.
Today the Temple Church holds regular church services, including Holy Communion
The Eucharist (; from Greek , , ), also known as Holy Communion and the Lord's Supper, is a Christian rite that is considered a sacrament in most churches, and as an Ordinance (Christianity), ordinance in others. According to the New Testame ...
and Mattins on Sunday morning. It also holds weddings, but only for members of the Inner and Middle Temples. The Temple Church serves both the Inner Temple and the Middle Temple as a private chapel.
The Temple Church has always been a Royal Peculiar, due to which the choristers have the privilege of wearing scarlet cassocks. Debate exists regarding the relationship of its status as Crown Subject and Peculiar. Relations with the Bishop of London
A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution.
In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or offic ...
are very good and she regularly attends events and services at the Temple Church.
The Bishop of London is also '' ex officio'' Dean of the Chapel Royal
The Chapel Royal is an establishment in the Royal Household serving the spiritual needs of the sovereign and the British Royal Family. Historically it was a body of priests and singers that travelled with the monarch. The term is now also appl ...
.
Music at the Temple Church
The church offers regular choral music performances and organ recitals. A choir in the English cathedral tradition was established at the Temple Church in 1842 under the direction of Dr E. J. Hopkins, and it soon earned a high reputation.
In 1927, the Temple Choir under George Thalben-Ball
Sir George Thomas Thalben-Ball (18 June 1896 – 18 January 1987) was an Australian organist and composer who spent almost all his life in England.
Early life
George Thomas Ball (he later took the additional name of "Thalben") was born in Sydn ...
became world-famous with its recording of Mendelssohn
Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (3 February 18094 November 1847), born and widely known as Felix Mendelssohn, was a German composer, pianist, organist and conductor of the early Romantic period. Mendelssohn's compositions include sym ...
's '' Hear My Prayer'', including the solo "O for the Wings of a Dove" sung by Ernest Lough. This became one of the most popular recordings of all time by a church choir, and it sold strongly throughout the twentieth century, reaching gold disc status (a million copies) in 1962 and achieving an estimated 6 million sales to date.
The Temple Church's excellent acoustics have also attracted secular musicians: Sir John Barbirolli recorded a famous performance of the '' Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis'' by Ralph Vaughan Williams there in 1962 (at the suggestion of Bernard Herrmann), and Paul Tortelier made his recording of the complete Bach Cello Suites there in April 1982.
In 2003 the church was the location of a music video
A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing devi ...
of Libera.
While writing the score
Score or scorer may refer to:
*Test score, the result of an exam or test
Business
* Score Digital, now part of Bauer Radio
* Score Entertainment, a former American trading card design and manufacturing company
* Score Media, a former Canadian m ...
for '' Interstellar,'' film composer Hans Zimmer
Hans Florian Zimmer (; born 12 September 1957) is a German film score composer and music producer. He has won two Oscars and four Grammys, and has been nominated for two Emmys and a Tony. Zimmer was also named on the list of Top 100 Living ...
chose the Temple Church for the recording of the parts of the score that included an organ. The Church's organist Roger Sayer played the organ, while a large orchestra played throughout the church. Zimmer is quoted saying that "Setting foot into Temple Church is like stepping into profound history. ...Temple Church houses one of the most magnificent organs in the world."
The choir continues to record, broadcast and perform, in addition to its regular services at the Temple Church. It is an all-male choir, consisting of 18 boys who are all educated on generous scholarships (most of the boys attend the City of London School although the scholarship is portable) and 12 professional men. They perform weekly at Sunday services, 11:15–12:15 pm, during term time. The choir gave the world premiere of Sir John Tavener
Sir John Kenneth Tavener (28 January 1944 – 12 November 2013) was an English composer, known for his extensive output of choral religious works. Among his best known works are '' The Lamb'' (1982), ''The Protecting Veil'' (1988), and '' Son ...
's epic ''The Veil of the Temple
''The Veil of the Temple'' is a piece of choral music by British composer John Tavener, Sir John Tavener. Identified by Tavener as "the supreme achievement of my life", it is set for four choirs, several orchestras and soloists and lasts at least ...
'', which took place over seven hours during an overnight vigil in the Temple Church in 2003. The following year it was performed by the choir at the Lincoln Festival in New York City; a concert version was performed at the BBC Proms
The BBC Proms or Proms, formally named the Henry Wood Promenade Concerts Presented by the BBC, is an eight-week summer season of daily orchestral classical music concerts and other events held annually, predominantly in the Royal Albert Hal ...
the same year. Two new recordings were released in 2010 on the ''Signum Classics'' label: one of the Temple Church Choir, and a recording of English organ music played by James Vivian. Both were critically acclaimed. The boys' choir also appears on the 2016 recording of John Rutter's violin concerto '' Visions'', and on an album of upper-voices Christmas music released the same year.
Organ
The church contains two organs: a chamber organ built by Robin Jennings in 2001, and a four manual Harrison & Harrison organ, built in 1924 as a private ballroom organ at Glen Tanar House and installed at the Temple Church in 1954.
List of organists
The church has had a number of famous organists, including:
* Francis Pigott 1688–1704
*John Pigott 1704–1737 (from 1729 for Middle Temple only)
Inner Temple
*Obadiah Shuttleworth
Obadiah Shuttleworth (died 1734), English composer, violinist and organist, was the son of Thomas Shuttleworth of Spitalfields in London. Thomas was a professional music copyist and harpsichord player.Hawkins, John (1776/1963). ''A General History ...
1729–1734
* John Stanley 1734–1786
* Robert John Samuel Stevens 1786–1810
*George Price 1810–1814
Middle Temple
*John Pigott 1729–1737
*James Vincent 1737–1749
* John Jones 1749–1796
*Emily Dowding 1796–1814
(from 1814 for both Inner and Middle Temple)
*George Price 1814–1826
*George Warne
George Henry Warne (15 December 1881 – 24 December 1928) was a British Labour Party politician.
Born in Cramlington in Northumberland, Warne began working in a coal mine at the age of twelve. He became active in the Northumberland Miners ...
1826–1843 (afterwards organist of St Nicholas' Church, Great Yarmouth)
*Dr Edward John Hopkins 1843–1897
*Sir Henry Walford Davies 1897–1923
*Sir George Thalben-Ball
Sir George Thomas Thalben-Ball (18 June 1896 – 18 January 1987) was an Australian organist and composer who spent almost all his life in England.
Early life
George Thomas Ball (he later took the additional name of "Thalben") was born in Sydn ...
1923–1982
*Dr John Birch 1982–1997
* Stephen Layton 1997–2006
* James Vivian 2006–2013
* Roger Sayer 2014–
Master of the Temple
The church always has two clergy, called the "Master of the Temple" and the "Reader of the Temple." The title of the Master of the Temple recalls the title of the head of the former order of the Knights Templar
The Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon ( la, Pauperes commilitones Christi Templique Salomonici), also known as the Order of Solomon's Temple, the Knights Templar, or simply the Templars, was a Catholic military order, o ...
. The Master of the Temple is appointed by the Crown; the right of appointment was reserved when the Church was granted to the two Inns by James I in 1608. The church has the status of a peculiar rather than a private chapel and is outside any episcopal or archiepiscopal jurisdiction. The present Master of the Temple is the Reverend Robin Griffith-Jones, appointed in 1999. The Master gives regular lunchtime talks open to the public.
The official title of the Master of the Temple is the "Reverend and Valiant Master of the Temple." His official residence is the Master's House, a Georgian townhouse built next to the church in 1764.
Masters of the Temple
* 1160-1185† Richard de Hastings
Richard is a male given name. It originates, via Old French, from Old Frankish and is a compound of the words descending from Proto-Germanic ''*rīk-'' 'ruler, leader, king' and ''*hardu-'' 'strong, brave, hardy', and it therefore means 'str ...
* 1540–1558† William Ermested
William Ermested (died 31 October 1558) was a Canon of Windsor from 1554 – 1558 and Master of the Temple.
Having previously graduated M.A. at a university abroad, Ermested was incorporated at Oxford on 12 December 1527, and graduated B.D. on ...
* 1560–1584† Richard Alvey
* 1585–1591 Richard Hooker
* 1591–1601† Nicholas Balgay
* 1601–1628† Thomas Master (as Archdeacon of Salop from 1614)
* 1628–1639† Paul Micklethwaite
* 1639–1644 John Littleton (royalist, left London to join the king, ejected 1644)
(1644 Richard Vines nominated by the House of Commons but rejected by the House of Lords.)
* 1645–1646 John Tombes
John Tombes (c.1603? – 22 May 1676) was an English clergyman of Presbyterian and Baptist views.
Early life
He was born at Bewdley, Worcestershire, in 1602 or 1603. He matriculated at Magdalen Hall, Oxford, 23 January 1618, aged 15. His tutor th ...
* 1646–1658 Richard Johnson
* 1658–1659† Ralph Brownrigg
Ralph Brownrigg or Brownrig (1592–1659) was bishop of Exeter from 1642 to 1646. He spent that time largely in exile from his see, which he perhaps never visited. He did find a position there for Seth Ward. He was both a Royalist in politics, ...
(as Bishop of Exeter)
* 1659–1661 John Gauden (as Bishop of Exeter)
* 1661–1684† Richard Ball
* 1684–1704 William Sherlock (as Dean of St Paul's from 1691)
* 1704–1753 Thomas Sherlock
Thomas Sherlock (167818 July 1761) was a British divine who served as a Church of England bishop for 33 years. He is also noted in church history as an important contributor to Christian apologetics.
Life
Born in London, he was the son of the ...
(as Dean of Chichester 1715, Bishop of Bangor 1728, Salisbury 1734, London 1748)
* 1753–1763† Samuel Nicolls
* 1763–1771† Gregory Sharpe
* 1771–1772† George Watts
* 1772–1787 Thomas Thurlow (as Dean of Rochester 1775, Bishop of Lincoln 1779)
* 1787–1797 William Pearce William Pearce may refer to:
Entertainment
* William Houghton Sprague Pearce (1864–1935), American artist
* Bill Pearce (1926–2010), American singer and trombonist
* Billy Pearce (born 1951), English actor and comedian
Politics
* Sir William ...
(later Dean of Ely)
* 1797–1798 Thomas Kipling
Thomas Kipling (1745 or 1746 – 28 January 1822) was a British churchman and academic.
He entered St John's College, Cambridge University in 1764 at age 18 and was senior wrangler in 1768. He received an M.A. in 1771, a B.D. in 1779, and ...
(later Dean of Peterborough)
* 1798–1827 Thomas Rennell (as Dean of Winchester from 1805)
* 1827–1845 Christopher Benson
* 1845–1869 Thomas Robinson
* 1869–1894 Charles John Vaughan (as Dean of Llandaff from 1879)
* 1894–1904† Alfred Ainger
Alfred Ainger (9 February 18378 February 1904) was an English biographer and critic.
Biography
The son of an architect in London, he was educated at University College School, King's College London and Trinity College, Cambridge, from where he ...
* 1904–1915† Henry George Woods
* 1915–1919 Ernest Barnes (later Bishop of Birmingham)
* 1919–1930 William Henry Draper
* 1930–1935 Spencer Carpenter (later Dean of Exeter)
* 1935–1954† Harold Anson
Harold Anson (1867 – 1954), was an English Anglican priest, most notably Master of the Temple from 1935 until his death.
Notes
The son of Rev. Frederick Anson, Canon of Windsor, and Caroline, eldest daughter of George Venables-Vernon, 5t ...
* 1954–1957† John Firth
* 1958–1968 Dick Milford
* 1968–1980 Bobby Milburn
Robert Leslie Pollington "Bobby" Milburn FSA (28 July 1907 – 14 February 2000) was an Anglican priest in the 20th century.
Milburn was educated at Oundle School and Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge and ordained in 1935. Between then and ...
(formerly Dean of Worcester)
* 1981–1999† Joseph Robinson
* 1999– Robin Griffith-Jones
† ''Master died in post''
Buried in the church
* Sir Richard Chetwode, Sheriff of Northamptonshire (1560–1635).
* Silvester de Everdon, Bishop of Carlisle and Lord Chancellor
The lord chancellor, formally the lord high chancellor of Great Britain, is the highest-ranking traditional minister among the Great Officers of State in Scotland and England in the United Kingdom, nominally outranking the prime minister. T ...
of England (died 1254).
* Sir Anthony Jackson (1599–1666).
* Geoffrey de Mandeville, 1st Earl of Essex
Geoffrey de Mandeville II, 1st Earl of Essex (died September 1144) was a prominent figure during the reign of King Stephen of England. His biographer, the 19th-century historian J. H. Round, called him "the most perfect and typical presentment of ...
(died September 1144).
* William Marshal, 1st Earl of Pembroke
William Marshal, 1st Earl of Pembroke (1146 or 1147 – 14 May 1219), also called William the Marshal (Norman French: ', French: '), was an Anglo-Norman soldier and statesman. He served five English kings— Henry II, his sons the "Young King" ...
(1146–1219).
* William Marshal, 2nd Earl of Pembroke (1190 – 6 April 1231).
* Gilbert Marshal, 4th Earl of Pembroke (1194 – 27 June 1241).
* Dr Richard Mead (1673–1754).
* William Petyt, barrister, legal scholar, and Keeper of the Records in the Tower of London
The Tower of London, officially His Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress of the Tower of London, is a historic castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, which is sepa ...
(1640/1641 – 3 October 1707).
* Sir Edmund Plowden (1518–1585).
* Francis James Newman Rogers
Francis James Newman Rogers, KC (1791–1851), was an English barrister, judge and legal author, Deputy Judge Advocate General from 1842 until his death in 1851. ''Rogers on Elections'' was the standard reference work for most of the 19th cen ...
(1791–1851).
* John Selden (1584 – 1654), English jurist
* James Simpson (1737–1815), Attorney General of Colonial South Carolina
)'' Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no)
, anthem = "Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind"
, Former = Province of South Carolina
, seat = Columbia
, LargestCity = Charleston
, LargestMetro = G ...
. His wife, who predeceased him, is buried in the South Transept of Westminster Abbey
Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an historic, mainly Gothic church in the City of Westminster, London, England, just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is one of the United ...
.
* Sir John Tremayne (1647–1694).
* Robert de Veteripoint
Robert de Vieuxpont (died 1227/8), also called Vipont, Veteripont, or ''de Vetere Ponte'' ("from the Old Bridge"), Baron of Westmorland, was an Anglo-Norman noble landowner and administrator.
He entered royal service and was initially employed i ...
, Sheriff of Westmoreland (died 1228).
* Oliver Goldsmith, (1728 - 1774), novelist, playwright and poet.
See also
* List of churches and cathedrals of London
* Temple (Paris) – medieval Knights Templar European headquarters
* History of medieval Arabic and Western European domes
References
External links
Official website
of the Temple Church
Official website detailing the music of the Temple Church
Middle Temple's website
Inner Temple's website
2008 Temple Festival website
– Sacred Destinations article with larg
– Pitt University
– Rosslyn Templars
by Charles Greenstreet Addison, with extensive history and description of Temple Church
{{Authority control
Church of England church buildings in the City of London
Knights Templar
Royal Peculiars
Masters of the Temple
Christopher Wren church buildings in London
Churches bombed by the Luftwaffe in London
Grade I listed churches in the City of London
Tourist attractions in London
Round churches in England