The Royal Chapel
His Majesty’s Royal Chapel of the Mohawks: the faith, kept since 1785, and the Crown face to face.
Tap the bell to ring it, two taps as people do at the chapel; shake the cherry tree; tap the door to open it. The chapel’s front has no windows: they run along its sides, and all eight are below, in their numbered order.
The Royal Arms over the door
The felt lion and unicorn shift as they wait for their picture. Tap to take it: the flash goes off and the photograph develops. Tap again to start over.
The arms are the Hanoverian arms of King George III, carved in solid oak: the oldest coat of arms in Canada, as the Brant County Museum’s photograph of them is captioned. The chapel’s history says the King gave them; the Secretary-General’s account is that Percy Wood carved them, the London sculptor of the Brant Memorial in Victoria Park, beneath which the Prince of Wales was made a chief in 1919. The shield is the King’s before 1801: the first quarter England beside Scotland; the second France; the third Ireland; the fourth the arms of his German lands, the two lions of Brunswick, the blue lion on gold of Lüneburg among red hearts, the white horse of Hanover, and over them a small red shield with the gold crown of Charlemagne, which he bore as Arch-Treasurer of the Holy Roman Empire. The Crown dropped France from its arms in 1801.
The Silver Chain of Friendship, 1710–2010
A peal of eight handbells, engraved The Silver Chain of Friendship 1710–2010, given by the Queen at St James Cathedral, Toronto, on 4 July 2010: one peal to the Mohawk of the Grand, one to Tyendinaga. Ringers call the bells from the treble, the highest, down to the tenor, the lowest; ringing them in that order is called the rounds.
The plaques
LA CHAPELLE DES AGNIERS DE SA MAJESTÉ
NE IAKOTANERAIENTAHTSERA NE IEKORA
NE KANIENKEHAKA ROTERONNAIENHS
Originally called St. Paul’s, this chapel was the first Protestant church in Upper Canada and is now the oldest surviving church in Ontario. Built by the Crown in 1785, it was given to those Mohawk Indians led by Joseph Brant who had supported the British during the American Revolution. Their choice cost them their lands in New York. To compensate for the loss the Mohawks were granted 760,000 acres on the Grand River complete with two mills, a school and chapel. Although the church has undergone many alterations, it stands as a reminder of the important role played by the Loyalist Mohawks in the early settlement of Ontario.
Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada · Commission des lieux et monuments historiques du Canada
Unveiled by Her Majesty The Queen, October 1, 1984 · Plaque dévoilée par Sa Majesté la Reine, le 1er octobre 1984 · Iakorihwanitatonh iekora tiotonh iawenre niwenniawehnok tsatekonh niwahshenh kaieri iohserade
The main plaque, on the bell house: the same words three times, in English, French and Mohawk, the Rosetta Stone of the yard. The Mohawk is as cast, in the spelling of 1984. Tap a language to read it, and tap any of the smaller plaques below for its words.
Two of the plaques are missing; their words are kept here.
The eight windows
The sun moves behind the glass on its own; move your finger or the pointer over the wall and it follows you. Tap a window, or a name below, to read it.
Tap a window to read it.
At a glance
| Built | 1785, by John Thomas and John Smith, Loyalists from New York |
|---|---|
| Royal | 1904, by Edward VII |
| National Historic Site | 13 November 1981 |
| Its own arms | granted 15 May 2023; Faith, Hope, Charity |
| The windows | eight, 1959 to 1962, made by Farrar-Bell from David Mitson’s designs |
| The silver | Queen Anne’s, 1712: chalice, paten and flagon |
| The bell | the original, cast in London in the 1700s, with the King’s broad arrow |
| Where | 301 Mohawk Street, Brantford; kept by Six Nations Tourism |
The Crown at the chapel
| 1860 | Albert Edward, Prince of Wales, signs the Queen Anne Bible |
|---|---|
| 1869 | Prince Arthur made a chief of the Mohawk, Kavakoudge |
| 1901 | the Duke and Duchess of York sign |
| 1904 | Edward VII makes it a Chapel Royal |
| 1919 | Edward, Prince of Wales, made a chief, Dawn of Day; plants a tree at the tomb |
| 1951 | Princess Elizabeth signs |
| 1959 | the Queen signs again |
| 1984 | the Queen unveils the plaque in three languages, greeted by Chief Wellington Staats |
| 2010 | the Queen signs in Toronto; the bells of the Silver Chain |
In eight lines
- 1710. The Four Kings ask Queen Anne for a chapel; she sends silver, a Bible, and a chapel at Fort Hunter.
- 1785. The Crown builds the chapel on the Grand River for the Loyalist Mohawk.
- 1829. The door moved to the tower; in 1869 the pointed windows.
- 1850. Joseph Brant and his son John laid in the tomb.
- 1904. A Chapel Royal; in 1919 the Prince of Wales made a chief, Dawn of Day.
- 1951–2010. Elizabeth signs the Queen Anne Bible as Princess, then as Queen.
- 2024. The chapel’s own arms: Faith, Hope, Charity.
- The Nation’s reading. A free chapel of the Crown, the first of three promises.
The printed poster
Download the poster as printed, A3, full quality: the-royal-chapel.pdf