THEMOST HONOURABLE

ORDER OFTHE BATH

From mediæval times to the Coronation of KingCharles II it was customary in England to conferwith great ceremony a ‘Degree of Knighthood’which, from its preparatory rite, came to bedescribed as ‘The Knighthood of the Bath’.

This Knighthood was not an ‘Order’ having itsown Chapel, Statutes, Seal, and Officers—like theOrder of the Garter—but simply a ‘Degree ofKnighthood’, greatly esteemed, owing to thedistinction of the persons on whom it wasconferred and the solemnity of the ceremoniesconnected with the creation of such.

King George I, by Letters Patent dated 18th May1725, created a Military Order of Knighthood to beknown as ‘The Order of the Bath’. Statutes ofsubsequent date laid down the ordinances to beobserved within the Order. The installation ofKnights was provided for, and the attendantceremonies (each with allegorical significance)included that of a bath.

From 1725 an invaluable record of stall-holdingmembers of the Order has been built up throughthe armorial stall-plates in the Chapel of the Orderin Westminster Abbey.

On 2nd January 1815 the Order was enlarged byThe Prince Regent and, instead of one class ofKnights, three were formed: Knights Grand Cross,Knights Commander, and Companions. At thesame time provision was made for the admissionof a small number of distinguished civilians to thehighest class.

On 14th April 1847 Queen Victoria ordained thatcertain changes should be made in the constitutionof the Order ‘With a view to the altered state andcircumstances of Society’. Included in the changeswas the addition to the Civil Division of KnightsCommander and of Companions.

In 1913 King George V commanded that theceremony of installation, omitted for almost acentury, should be carried out, and on 22nd July1913 a service was held at which forty-six seniorKnights Grand Cross were installed. There theerection of banners, mantlings, and stall platesalso resumed.

Installation services followed in 1920, 1924, and1928. However, between 1932 and 1935, theChapel of the Order was closed so that repairsmight be carried out following damage to thefabric caused by vibration. During that period anew Altar was erected—a reproduction ofTorregiano’s 1526 Altar, parts of which wereincorporated in the new one.

Its baldacchino which incorporates the painting ofthe Virgin and Child by Bartolomeo Vivarini, acontemporary of Torregiano, was presented bythe Viscount Lee of Fareham GCB. On 3rd July 1935the Chapel was re-opened with a service duringwhich existing vacancies were filled by theinstallation of several Knights.

During the war of 1939–45, to prevent damage byenemy action, certain parts of the woodwork ofthe stalls, together with the banners, wereremoved from the Chapel, and it was not until1947 that the Chapel was restored and re-openedto the public.

Ladies were admitted to all classes and to bothdivisions of the Order, with effect from 1st January1971; Her Royal Highness Princess Alice, Duchessof Gloucester, being the first Dame Grand Cross.

On 10th June 1974 the former Great Master of theOrder, His Royal Highness The Duke ofGloucester, died. On 28th May 1975 a service washeld to mark the 250th anniversary of theestablishment of the Order of the Bath. On thatoccasion the newly appointed Great Master of theOrder, His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales,was installed by The Sovereign.

Immediately after the installation in 1994 theChapel was closed to the public, filled withscaffolding, and underwent the most extensiveexamination, conservation, and restoration(inside and out) in nearly 500 years. The Officersof the Order were present in October 1995 at agreat Thanksgiving Service for the completion ofthe Abbey’s restoration programme, at which TheSovereign unveiled a new west window in theChapel. By means of heraldic arms, ciphers, andinitials—featuring the insignia of the Order as partof the arms of The Sovereign, and The GreatMaster—the window both records the trustees,donors, collegiate officers, and craftsmen involvedin the restoration, and celebrates its completion.

During the present ceremony certain KnightsGrand Cross will be installed to fill those vacancieswhich have occurred since 2014. New banners andcrests replace those of deceased Knights GrandCross, whose stall plates, however, remain in theirstalls in perpetuity.

Printed by Barnard & Westwood Ltd, 23 Pakenham Street, London WC1X 0LBBy Appointment to HM The Queen, Printers and Bookbinders

& HRH The Prince of Wales, PrintersPrinters to the Dean and Chapter of Westminster