41-843: The Crown Equerry is the operational head of the Royal Mews of the Royal Household of the Sovereign of the United Kingdom . As executive head of the Royal Mews Department , he is responsible for the provision of vehicular transport for the sovereign, both cars and horse-drawn carriages. Train travel is arranged by the Royal Travel Office, which also co-ordinates air transport. The position of Crown Equerry should not be confused with that of Equerry : although both are nominally under
82-696: A BMW i3 and a BMW 7 Series hybrid to a Nissan van and a Renault Twizy . The following chart shows the staff structure of the Royal Mews Department at the end of the twentieth century (when around fifty people lived and worked at the Mews). The position of Superintendent, which included oversight of the staff of the Mews, was abolished in 2000. The Royal Mews, Hampton Court Palace overlooks Hampton Court Green. It continues to provide accommodation for royal staff, and horses are stabled there from time to time. It
123-546: A copy of the map on pewter sheets associated Agas's name with it; and the attribution was then asserted more firmly by the antiquary George Vertue in 1737–8. However, the probable date of the Woodcut map and its relationship to the Copperplate map make it extremely unlikely that Agas – who began practising as a surveyor in about 1566 – played any part in its creation, and the attribution is now treated as highly dubious. Nevertheless,
164-615: A hiatus during the Napoleonic wars when George III used black stallions in protest at the French occupation of Hanover). The mews was rebuilt again in 1732 to the designs of William Kent , and in the early 19th century it was open to the public. This building was usually known as the King's Mews (or Queen's Mews when there was a woman on the throne), but was also sometimes referred to as the Royal Mews or
205-422: A less sophisticated public than that which would buy the fine copper engraving". The Woodcut map was traditionally attributed to the surveyor and cartographer Ralph Agas ( c. 1540–1621 ). This attribution has its roots in a claim made by Agas in 1588 to the effect that for ten years past he had been hoping to undertake a survey of London. On the basis of this statement, the late 17th-century engraver of
246-816: A retired Major of the Essex Rifles; his full title was Crown Equerry, Secretary to the Master of the Horse and Superintendent of the Royal Stables . The secretarial aspect of the job led to him being seen as inferior to the other Equerries, and he was kept at one remove from the Queen and the Palace ( Charles Phipps , the Keeper of the Privy Purse, was at pains to make clear in a letter to the Master of
287-412: A veterinary surgeon. When Victoria came to the throne in 1837, Buckingham Palace became the monarch's principal residence. Prince Albert used the back mews for stabling his own horses (for riding and driving). By the 1850s there were just under two hundred people employed at the mews, most of whom lived on site with their families. Standing either side of the entrance were official residences (one for
328-441: Is Queen Victoria 's state sledge, one of a number of royal sleighs in the Mews. Also on display are some of the historic and immaculately kept liveries and harnesses (which likewise see regular use), ranging from the plainer items used for exercising and working horses, to the ornamented state liveries and harnesses designed for use with the similarly appointed state coaches. The maintenance and provision of modern motor vehicles
369-432: Is as much a part of the work of the Royal Mews as that of carriages and horses. Edward VII first established a garage in the Mews in the early years of the twentieth century. The principal official cars are all painted in black over claret (known as Royal Claret). They are driven, cared for and maintained by a number of chauffeurs, who are based in the Mews and work under the head chauffeur (who, along with his deputy,
410-658: Is not open to the public. There is a working Royal Mews at Windsor Castle where the Ascot carriages are normally kept, together with vehicles used in Windsor Great Park . Some horses for riding (rather than driving) are also stabled here. At Holyrood , the Royal Mews (situated in Abbey Strand) is one of the oldest parts of the Palace, and is still pressed into service whenever royal carriages are used in Edinburgh. Historically,
451-575: Is on a greatly reduced scale. The Woodcut map was traditionally attributed to the surveyor and cartographer Ralph Agas , but this attribution is now considered to be erroneous. Three impressions of the Woodcut map survive in its earliest known state of c. 1633 . They are held in London Metropolitan Archives , the Pepys Library at Magdalene College, Cambridge , and The National Archives at Kew . The three early copies of
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#1732851621151492-518: Is one of the earliest true maps (as opposed to panoramic views , such as those of Anton van den Wyngaerde ) of the City of London and its environs. The original map probably dated from the early 1560s, but it survives only in later and slightly modified copies. It was printed from woodcut blocks on eight sheets, and in its present state measures approximately 2 feet 4 inches (71 cm) high by 6 feet (180 cm) wide. There has been some damage to
533-454: Is primarily responsible for driving the monarch). The five principal state cars are without number plates . They comprise: The following vehicles, used for less-formal occasions and as support vehicles, are similarly painted in the royal claret and black livery: Land Rovers , luggage brakes and people carriers are also kept at the Royal Mews. A number of electric vehicles have been acquired since 2012, for various purposes, ranging from
574-522: The "Woodcut" map of London of the early 1560s, the Mews can be seen extending back towards the site of today's Leicester Square . When George I came to the throne in 1714 he brought with him to London the famous cream stallions which he was wont to use as Elector of Hanover . Bred at the Royal Stud at Hampton Court, these horses pulled state carriages in England for the next two hundred years (except for
615-532: The Australian Bicentenary celebrations; it was the first new royal state coach to be built since the 1902 State Landau . At that time, despite the earlier disposals, the Royal Mews still had custody of over a hundred vehicles, with all but a dozen being in working order; the majority were in London or Windsor, with others spread around the other royal residences. As well as being a full-time working facility,
656-455: The Master of the Horse , the equerries have a distinct role as personal assistants to the sovereign and senior members of the royal family . After 1827, the Master of the Horse became a political office, its holder changing with each change of government. To provide continuity in the management of the Royal Mews, the role of Crown Equerry was created in 1854. The first incumbent was John Groves ,
697-461: The Royal Exchange (erected 1566–70; opened 1571) appears on the map, but is again clearly an insertion. The map is now known to be a close – though slightly less detailed – copy of the "Copperplate" map , surveyed between 1553 and 1559; but one difference between the two maps is that St Paul's Cathedral appears on the Woodcut version without its spire. The spire was lost in a fire in 1561, and so
738-418: The 1820s) within the grounds of Buckingham Palace . The Royal Mews, Buckingham Palace, includes an extensive display of royal carriages and other associated items, and is open to the public for much of the year. It is also a working part of the palace, where horses and people live and work, and where carriages and cars are in daily use supporting the work of the monarch as head of state . The titular head of
779-576: The Crown Equerry would receive and convey the monarch's instructions directly with regard to all aspects of the Royal Mews and its operations. The job of Superintendent of the Royal Mews was established as a separate office in 1859; the Superintendent served as assistant to the Crown Equerry until 2000 when the post was abolished. In the 21st century the Crown Equerry works closely with the Comptroller,
820-563: The Crown Equerry, the other for the Clerk of the Stables); other staff were accommodated in rooms above the stables and carriage houses. In 1855 Queen Victoria established a Buckingham Palace Royal Mews School, for the education of the workers' children. Under Victoria's successor, King Edward VII , motor vehicles were introduced into the mews. In 1904 the Crown Equerry wrote to the Office of Works to request
861-493: The Horse that the new office pertained 'exclusively to the Stables department'). Groves died in office five years later; his successor, Colonel George Ashley Maude , remained in post for thirty-five years. During this time he consolidated the office and worked to improve the working conditions of the Mews staff. The Queen (who esteemed him 'a kind good man') granted him direct access to her person, and it became established practice that
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#1732851621151902-517: The Lord Chamberlin's Office who oversees arrangements for ceremonial occasions and briefs the Crown Equerry accordingly. Royal Mews The Royal Mews is a mews , or collection of equestrian stables, of the British royal family . In London these stables and stable-hands' quarters have occupied two main sites in turn, being located at first on the north side of Charing Cross , and then (since
943-617: The Mews are pictured here in action; several more are illustrated on their own pages (see listing below). Vehicles in the care of the Royal Mews are listed below. A good number are on public display, though not all are kept in London. Most are in regular use, and some (for example, the broughams) are driven on a daily basis. Others (above all the Gold Coach) are only used on great and rare state occasions. The list includes vehicles for personal, recreational and sporting use, as well as those designed and kept for state occasions: In less regular use
984-533: The Royal Mews is the Master of the Horse (one of the three great officers of the Royal Household ). The executive head is the Crown Equerry , who lives on site and oversees the Royal Mews Department (which is a department of the Royal Household). The first set of stables to be referred to as a mews was at Charing Cross at the western end of The Strand . The royal hawks were kept at this site from 1377 and
1025-483: The Royal Mews, Buckingham Palace, is regularly open to the public. The state coaches and other carriages are kept there, along with about 30 horses, together with their modern counterparts: the state motor cars . Coachmen, grooms, chauffeurs and other staff are accommodated in flats above the carriage houses and stables. The complement of horses in the Royal Mews today includes around a dozen Windsor Greys and eighteen Cleveland Bays . The horses are regularly exercised in
1066-582: The Royal Stables. Kent's redesign was a classical building occupying the northern half of the site, with an open space in front of it that ranked among the few large ones in central London at a time when the Royal Parks were on the fringes of the city and most squares in London were garden squares open only to the residents of their surrounding houses. On 15 June 1820, the Guards in the Royal Mews mutinied in support of Caroline of Brunswick , whom King George IV
1107-410: The art of pulling carriages (which is one of the reasons for the continuing use of horse-drawn transport for the daily messenger rounds between Buckingham Palace and St James's Palace ); they are used for competitive and recreational driving as well as for ceremonial duties. The manure that is produced by the horses is used by the adjacent Buckingham Palace Garden . A few of the carriages stored at
1148-557: The ascendency, and following his accession to the throne Edward VIII disposed of several of the more 'day to day' carriages. George VI made more disposals after the Second World War: for example, sixteen plain Edwardian town coaches were sold off at this time (just one remained , stored away at Windsor; it was later rediscovered, glazed and restored to royal use). A total of nineteen carriages were purchased by Sir Alexander Korda after
1189-550: The blocks, and it was probably originally fractionally larger. The Woodcut map is a slightly smaller-scale, cruder and lightly modified copy of the so-called "Copperplate" map , surveyed between 1553 and 1559, which, however, survives only in part. It also bears a close resemblance to the map of London included in Georg Braun and Frans Hogenberg 's Civitates Orbis Terrarum , published in Cologne and Amsterdam in 1572, although this
1230-516: The conversion of 'two small coach-houses in the Back Mews' into 'a suitable Motor House [...] with a Lantern roof, hot water heating apparatus and electric lighting'. The conversion duly took place, and accommodation was provided nearby for the chauffeurs. In the early 20th century problems had arisen due to inbreeding of the Hanoverian creams. In 1920 they were withdrawn from use and in their place, for
1271-505: The grounds of Buckingham House , which he had acquired in 1762 for his wife's use. The Riding School , thought to be by William Chambers , dates from this period (it was completed in 1764; the pediment , with sculptural motifs by William Theed , was added in 1859). The main royal stables housing the ceremonial coaches and their horses remained at the King's Mews, Charing Cross; however, when his son George IV had Buckingham Palace converted into
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1312-438: The main royal residence in the 1820s the whole stables establishment was moved there. The current Royal Mews was built to designs by John Nash and was completed in 1825 (though the mews buildings have been modified extensively since). The main quadrangle was laid out with coach houses on the east side, and stable blocks (alternating with harness and forage rooms) on the west. Beyond it, the 'back mews' included accommodation for
1353-514: The map are dated by an inscription to c. 1633 . However, it is evident that the map in this form has been updated from an earlier state. The royal arms in the upper left corner are those of the House of Stuart (1603–49), but are clearly an insertion, almost certainly replacing the earlier Tudor arms, which do appear (at a very small scale) on the royal barge , pictured on the Thames . Similarly,
1394-467: The map cannot be earlier than that date. The Woodcut map is therefore now dated with a reasonable degree of probability to the 1560s. A reference in the Stationers' Register for 1562–3 to the "Carde of London" may possibly refer to it. The map has also been slightly modified from the Copperplate map by the introduction of a higher degree of perspective to the projection : this is particularly obvious in
1435-608: The map is still often referred to as the "Agas" map. Reproductions of the map have been published on several occasions in modern times. An edition based on the "pewter" copy was published by Taperell & Innes in 1849. A facsimile edition was published in 1874, with an introduction by W. H. Overall . In 1978, the map was published in large-format atlas form by the London Topographical Society (in association with Harry Margary and Guildhall Library ) as The A to Z of Elizabethan London , overprinted with street names and
1476-667: The name originates from the fact that they were confined there at moulting time ("mew" being derived from the French verb "muer", to moult). In the Tudor Period, the Royal Stables were located in Lomesbury (present-day Bloomsbury ). In 1534 they were destroyed by fire, whereupon the King, Henry VIII , decided to rebuild the Charing Cross mews as a stables (the hawks having been given alternative accommodation). It kept its former name when it acquired this new function. On old maps, such as
1517-518: The northern and western areas (beyond Bishopsgate towards Shoreditch , and in the Westminster and Whitehall area). It is therefore closer to a bird's-eye view of the City, seen from an imaginary viewpoint above the south bank of the Thames , as opposed to the " bird's-flight view " projection of the Copperplate map. Stephen Powys Marks suggests that this adjustment "may be an indication of an appeal to
1558-411: The old stables of St James's Palace , which stood where Lancaster House is now, were also sometime referred to as the Royal Mews. 51°29′55″N 0°08′37″W / 51.49873170°N 0.14362900°W / 51.49873170; -0.14362900 Woodcut map of London The "Woodcut" map of London , formally titled Civitas Londinum , and often referred to as the "Agas" map of London ,
1599-502: The rest of the decade, bay horses took pride of place in the Mews. In the early 1930s, however, King George V began using grey horses for the lead carriages in state and ceremonial processions; his son and heir Edward VIII moved the grey horses from Windsor (where they had been used for many years by the Royal Family for their private carriages) to London, where they were nicknamed the ' Windsor Greys '. By 1936 motor vehicles were in
1640-504: The war, for use as film props; of these, five Clarences were borrowed back in 1953 for the coronation (to supplement five identical carriages which had been retained by the Mews). The coronation that year involved thirty-four coaches and carriages with seventy-eight horses in harness. In 1988 a new state coach was presented to the Mews, the Australian State Coach , built by former Mews employee W. J. Frecklington as part of
1681-458: Was seeking to divorce. The whole site was cleared in the late 1820s to create Trafalgar Square , laid out in 1837–1844 after delays, and the National Gallery which opened in 1838. The present Royal Mews is in the grounds of Buckingham Palace, to the south of Buckingham Palace Gardens , near Grosvenor Place. In the 1760s George III moved some of his day-to-day horses and carriages to