St Michael's Parish Church, Linlithgow
St. Michael's Parish Church is one of the largest burgh churches in the Church of Scotland, it is one of two parishes serving the West Lothian county town of Linlithgow, the other being St. Ninian's Craigmailen. St Michael is the town's patron saint. King David I of Scotland granted a charter for the establishment of the church in 1138; the church was built on the site of an older church and was consecrated in 1242. Following a fire in 1424, most of the present building dates from the mid 15th century, with extensive restorations in the 19th century. Parts of the Church of St Michael were brought into use as they were completed, the church was completed in 1540. Built to the south of Linlithgow Palace, the church was much favoured as a place of worship by Scottish Kings and Queens. Mary, Queen of Scots, was born in Linlithgow Palace on 8 December 1542 and was baptised in St Michael’s Church. In 1559, at an early stage of the Scottish Reformation, the Protestant Lords of the Congregation destroyed the statues adorning the exterior and interior of the church as signs of "popishness", defaced the statue of St Michael which formed part of the structure.
Following the Reformation, the interior of the church was reordered. Some traces of pre-Reformation artefacts can still be detected. In 1646, Oliver Cromwell's troops stabled their horses within the nave. Following the departure of the troops, considerable restoration was required. By the early 19th century the church was in a poor physical condition. Although repairs were made, many of the historic features of the church were destroyed, the interior walls were whitewashed, a plaster ceiling replaced a fine 16th-century one and in 1821 the stone Crown Tower had to be dismantled. While other repairs were completed and the church was rededicated in 1896, the tower was too weakened for restoration of the original crown steeple. By the late 19th century tastes had changed radically, with the installation of the church's first post-Reformation stained glass windows. In 1964, an aluminium crown was installed; the church has been served by some notable former ministers, including the Very Revd Dr David Steel, Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland in 1974.
The most recent minister is the Revd Dr Stewart Gillan. List of Church of Scotland parishes St Michael's Parish Church Church of Scotland Historic Environment Scotland. "ST MICHAEL'S PARISH CHURCH... "
James III of Scotland
James III was King of Scots from 1460 to 1488. James was an unpopular and ineffective monarch owing to an unwillingness to administer justice a policy of pursuing alliance with the Kingdom of England, a disastrous relationship with nearly all his extended family. However, it was through his marriage to Margaret of Denmark that the Orkney and Shetland islands became Scottish, his reputation as the first Renaissance monarch in Scotland has sometimes been exaggerated, based on attacks on him in chronicles for being more interested in such unmanly pursuits as music than hunting and leading his kingdom into war. In fact, the artistic legacy of his reign is slight when compared to that of his successors, James IV and James V; such evidence as there is consists of portrait coins produced during his reign that display the king in three-quarter profile wearing an imperial crown, the Trinity Altarpiece by Hugo van der Goes, not commissioned by the king, an unusual hexagonal chapel at Restalrig near Edinburgh inspired by the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem.
James was born to James II of Mary of Guelders. His exact date and place of birth have been a matter of debate. Claims were made that he was born in May 1452, or 10 or 20 July 1451; the place of birth was either the St Andrews Castle, depending on the year. His most recent biographer, the historian Norman Macdougall, argued for late May 1452 at St Andrews, Fife, he succeeded his father James II on 3 August 1460 and was crowned at Kelso Abbey, Roxburghshire, a week later. During his childhood, the government was led by three successive factions, first the King's mother, Mary of Guelders James Kennedy, Bishop of St Andrews, Gilbert, Lord Kennedy Robert, Lord Boyd; the Boyd faction made itself unpopular with the king, through self-aggrandisement. Lord Boyd's son Thomas was married to the king's sister Mary. However, the family negotiated the king's marriage to Margaret of Denmark, daughter of Christian I of Denmark in 1469 as a part of ending the annual fee owed to Norway for the Western Isles, receiving Orkney and Shetland.
When James permanently annexed the islands to the crown in 1472, Scotland reached its greatest territorial extent. James married the 15 year old Margaret of Denmark in July 1469 at Edinburgh. Christian I of Denmark gave the Shetland Islands to Scotland as a dowry; the service was overseen by Abbot Archibald Crawford. The marriage produced three sons: James IV of Scotland James Stewart, Duke of Ross John Stewart, Earl of Mar Conflict broke out between James and the Boyd family following the marriage to Princess Mary. Robert and Thomas Boyd were out of the country involved in diplomacy when their regime was overthrown. Mary's marriage was declared void in 1473; the family of Sir Alexander Boyd was executed by James in 1469. James became powerful enough to attempt to manage the Lord of the Isles who ruled over the Western Isles and Highlands of Scotland in 1475; the treaty made by the Lords with England at Ardtornish in 1462 was used as evidence of their usurpation of royal power. John of Islay, Earl of Ross, Lord of the Isles was censured for making his son Angus his lieutenant and for besieging Rothesay Castle in the Isle of Bute.
John, Lord of the Isles was ordered to appear for trial in Edinburgh on 1 December and when he did not attend, he was declared forfeit. The Earls of Lennox, Argyll and Huntly were ordered to put the forfeiture in practice. John, Lord of the Isles, came to Edinburgh in July 1476 and the forfeiture was rescinded, but he resigned to the crown the Earldom of Ross, lands in Kintyre and Knapdale, the offices of Sheriff of Inverness and Nairn. James made John a Lord of Parliament as Lord of the Isles. In April 1478 Parliament required John to answer for his assistance to rebels who held Castle Sween against the crown. In December John received confirmation of his 1476 charters. James's policies during the 1470s revolved around ambitious continental schemes for territorial expansion and alliance with England. Between 1471 and 1473 he suggested annexations or invasions of Brittany and Guelders; these unrealistic aims resulted in parliamentary criticism since the king was reluctant to deal with the more humdrum business of administering justice at home.
In 1474 a marriage alliance was agreed to with Edward IV of England by which the future James IV of Scotland was to marry Princess Cecily of York, daughter of Edward IV and Elizabeth Woodville. It might have been a sensible move for Scotland, but it went against the traditional enmity of the two countries dating back to the reign of Robert I and the Wars of Independence, not to mention the vested interests of the border nobility; the alliance, therefore was at least one of the reasons why the king was unpopular by 1479. During the 1470s conflict developed between the king and his two brothers, Duke of Albany, John, Earl of Mar. Mar died suspiciously in Edinburgh in 1480 and his estates were forfeited given to a royal favourite, Robert Cochrane. Albany fled to France in 1479, breaking the alliance with England, but by 1479 the alliance was collapsing and war with England existed on an intermittent level in 1480–1482. In 1482 Edward IV launched a full-scale invasion led by the Duke of Gloucester, the future Richard III, including the
Elizabeth Stuart, Queen of Bohemia
Elizabeth Stuart was Electress of the Palatinate and Queen of Bohemia as the wife of Frederick V of the Palatinate. Due to her husband’s reign in Bohemia lasting for just one winter, Elizabeth is referred to as the "Winter Queen". Elizabeth was the second child and eldest daughter of James VI and I, King of Scotland and Ireland, his wife, Anne of Denmark. With the demise of the last Stuart monarch in 1714, Elizabeth's grandson succeeded to the British throne as George I, initiating the Hanoverian dynasty. Elizabeth was born at Fife, on 19 August 1596 at 2 o'clock in the morning. King James rode to the bedside from Callendar, where he was attending the wedding of the Earl of Orkney. At the time of her birth, her father was King of Scots only. Named in honour of Queen Elizabeth I of England, the young Elizabeth was christened on 28 November 1596 in the Chapel Royal at Holyroodhouse. During her early life in Scotland, Elizabeth was brought up at Linlithgow Palace, "one of the grandest of Scotland’s royal residences", where she was placed in the care of Lord Livingstone and his wife, Eleanor Hay.
A couple of years the king's second daughter, was placed in their care as well. Elizabeth "did not pay particular attention to this younger sister", as at this young age her affections were with her brother, Henry; when Elizabeth I, the Queen of England, died in 1603, Elizabeth Stuart's father, succeeded to the thrones of both England and Ireland. Along with her elder brother, Elizabeth made the journey south toward England with her mother "in a triumphal progress of perpetual entertainment". Elizabeth remained at court for a few weeks, but "there is no evidence that she was present at her parents' coronation" on 25 July 1603, it seems that by this time the royal children had been removed to Oatlands, an old Tudor hunting lodge near Weybridge. On 19 October 1603 "an order was issued under the privy seal announcing that the King had thought fit to commit the keeping and education of the Lady Elizabeth to the Lord Harrington and his wife". Under the care of Lord Harington at Coombe Abbey, Elizabeth met Anne Dudley, with whom she was to strike up a lifelong friendship.
Part of the intent of the Gunpowder Plot of 1605 was to assassinate Elizabeth's father and the Protestant aristocracy, kidnap the nine-year-old Elizabeth from Coombe Abbey, place her on the throne of England – and the thrones of Ireland and Scotland – as a Catholic monarch. The conspirators chose Elizabeth after considering the other available options. Prince Henry, would perish alongside his father. Charles was seen as Mary too young. Elizabeth, on the other hand, had attended formal functions, the conspirators knew that "she could fulfil a ceremonial role despite her comparative youth"; the conspirators aimed to cause an uprising in the Midlands to coincide with the explosion in London and at this point secure Elizabeth's accession as a puppet queen. She would be brought up as a Catholic and married to a Catholic bridegroom; the plot failed when the conspirators were betrayed and Guy Fawkes was caught by the King's soldiers before he was able to ignite the powder. Elizabeth was given a comprehensive education for a princess at that time.
This education included instruction in natural history, theology, writing, history and dancing. She was denied instruction in the classics as her father believed that "Latin had the unfortunate effect of making women more cunning". By the age of 12, Elizabeth was fluent in several languages, including French, "which she spoke with ease and grace" and would use to converse with her husband, she was an excellent rider, had a thorough understanding of the Protestant religion, had an aptitude for writing letters that "sounded sincere and never stilted". She was literary and "several mementoes of her early love of books exist"; as the daughter of a reigning monarch, the hand of the young Elizabeth was seen as a desirable prize. Suitors were many and varied, they included: Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden, son of the King of Sweden Frederic Ulric, Duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbuttel Prince Maurice of Nassau Henry Howard, 1st Earl of Northampton Theophilus Howard, Lord Howard of Walden second Earl of Suffolk Otto, Hereditary Prince of Hesse, son of Maurice, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel Victor Amadeus, Prince of Piedmont, the King of Spain’s nephew and heir to the Duke of SavoyEach suitor brought to the proposed marriage the prospect of power and greatness for the young Elizabeth.
Marriage would cost Elizabeth her father's kingdom. When James had succeeded to the English throne in 1603, England had acquired a new role in European affairs. Unlike the childless Elizabeth I, James, by "having children, could play an important role in dynastic politics"; the selection of Elizabeth's spouse, had little to do with her personal preference and a great deal to do with the benefits the match could bring. Most of her suitors were rejected for a variety of reasons; some were not of high enough birth, had no real prospects to offer, or in the case of Gustavus Adolphus, who on all other grounds seemed like a perfect match, because "his country was at war with Queen Anne’s native Denmark". Furthermore, England could not face another religious revolution, therefore the religious pre-requisite was paramount; the man chosen was Count Palatine of the Rhine. Frederick was of undeniably high lineage, his ancestors included the kings of Aragon and Sicily, the landgraves of Hesse, the dukes of Brabant and
Chanel
Chanel S. A. is a French held company owned by Alain Wertheimer and Gérard Wertheimer, grandsons of Pierre Wertheimer, an early business partner of the couturière Coco Chanel. Chanel S. A. is a high fashion house that specializes in haute couture and ready-to-wear clothes, luxury goods, fashion accessories. In her youth, Gabrielle Chanel gained the nickname Coco from her time as a chanteuse; as a fashion designer, Coco Chanel catered to women's taste for elegance in dress, with blouses and suits and dresses, jewellery of simple design, that replaced the opulent, over-designed, constrictive clothes and accessories of 19th-century fashion. The Chanel product brands have been personified by fashion models and actresses, including Inès de La Fressange, Catherine Deneuve, Carole Bouquet, Vanessa Paradis, Nicole Kidman, Anna Mouglalis, Audrey Tautou, Keira Knightley, Kristen Stewart and Marilyn Monroe; the House of Chanel is known for the "little black dress", the perfume No. 5 de Chanel, the Chanel Suit.
Chanel's use of jersey fabric produced garments that were affordable. Chanel revolutionized fashion — high fashion and everyday fashion — by replacing structured-silhouettes, based upon the corset and the bodice, with garments that were functional and at the same time flattering to the woman's figure. In the 1920s, the simple-line designs of Chanel couture made popular the "flat-chested" fashions that were the opposite of the hourglass-figure achieved by the fashions of the late 19th century — the Belle Époque of France, the British Edwardian era. Chanel used colors traditionally associated with masculinity in Europe, such as grey and navy blue, to denote feminine boldness of character; the clothes of the House of Chanel featured quilted leather trimmings. An example of such haute couture techniques is the woolen Chanel suit — a knee-length skirt and a cardigan-style jacket and decorated with black embroidery and gold-coloured buttons; the complementary accessories were two-tone pump shoes and jewellery a necklace of pearls, a leather handbag.
Establishment and recognition — 1909–1920s The House of Chanel originated in 1909 when Gabrielle Chanel opened a millinery shop at 160 Boulevard Malesherbes, the ground floor of the Parisian flat of the socialite and textile businessman Étienne Balsan, of whom she was the mistress. Because the Balsan flat was a salon for the French hunting and sporting élite, Chanel had the opportunity to meet their demi-mondaine mistresses, who, as such, were women of fashion, upon whom the rich men displayed their wealth — as ornate clothes and hats. Coco Chanel thus could sell to them the hats she made. In the course of those salons Coco Chanel befriended Arthur'Boy' Capel, an English socialite and polo player friend of Étienne Balsan. Despite that social circumstance, Boy Capel perceived the businesswoman innate to Coco Chanel, and, in 1910, financed her first independent millinery shop, Chanel Modes, at 21 rue Cambon, Paris; because that locale housed a dress shop, the business-lease limited Chanel to selling only millinery products, not couture.
Two years in 1913, the Deauville and Biarritz couture shops of Coco Chanel offered for sale prêt-à-porter sports clothes for women, the practical designs of which allowed the wearer to play sport. The First World War affected European fashion through scarcity of materials, the mobilisation of women. By that time, Chanel had opened a large dress shop at 31 rue Cambon, near the Hôtel Ritz, in Paris. Coco Chanel used jersey cloth because of its physical properties as a garment, such as its drape — how it falls upon and falls from the body of the woman — and how well it adapted to a simple garment-design. Sartorially, some of Chanel's designs derived from the military uniforms made prevalent by the War. In 1915 and in 1917, Harper's Bazaar magazine reported that the garments of the House of Chanel were "on the list of every buyer" for the clothing factories of Europe; the Chanel dress shop at 31 rue Cambon presented day-wear dress-and-coat ensembles of simple design, black evening dresses trimmed with lace.
After the First World War, the House of Chanel, following the fashion trends of the 1920s, produced beaded dresses, made popular by the Flapper woman. By 1920, Chanel had designed and presented a woman's suit of clothes — composed either of two garments or of three garments — which allowed a woman to have a modern, feminine appearance, whilst being comfortable and practical to maintain. In 1921, to complement the suit of clothes, Coco Chanel commissioned the perfumer Ernest Beaux to create a perfume for the House of Chanel, his perfumes included the perfume No.5, named after the number of the sample Chanel liked best. A bottle of No. 5 de Chanel was a gift to clients of Chanel. The popularity of the perfume prompted the House of Chanel to offer it for retail sale in 1922. In 1923, to
Order of the Thistle
The Most Ancient and Most Noble Order of the Thistle is an order of chivalry associated with Scotland. The current version of the Order was founded in 1687 by King James VII of Scotland who asserted that he was reviving an earlier Order; the Order consists of the Sovereign and sixteen Knights and Ladies, as well as certain "extra" knights. The Sovereign alone grants membership of the Order; the Order's primary emblem is the national flower of Scotland. The motto is Nemo me impune lacessit; the same motto appears on the Royal Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom for use in Scotland and some pound coins, is the motto of the Royal Regiment of Scotland, Scots Guards, The Black Watch of Canada and Royal Scots Dragoon Guards. The patron saint of the Order is St Andrew. Most British orders of chivalry cover the whole United Kingdom, but the three most exalted ones each pertain to one constituent country only; the Order of the Thistle, which pertains to Scotland, is the second-most senior in precedence. Its equivalent in England, The Most Noble Order of the Garter, is the oldest documented order of chivalry in the United Kingdom, dating to the middle fourteenth century.
In 1783 an Irish equivalent, The Most Illustrious Order of St Patrick, was founded, but has now fallen dormant. The claim that James VII was reviving an earlier Order is not supported by the evidence; the 1687 warrant states that during the 786 battle of Athelstaneford with Æthelstan of East Anglia, the cross of St Andrew appeared in the sky to Achaius, King of Scots. This seems unlikely. An alternative version is that the Order was founded in 809 to commemorate an alliance between Achaius and Emperor Charlemagne, yet another is Robert the Bruce instituted the order after his victory at Bannockburn in 1314. Most historians consider the earliest credible claim to be the founding of the Order by James III, during the fifteenth century, he adopted the thistle as the royal badge, issued coins depicting thistles and conferred membership of the "Order of the Burr or Thissil" on Francis I of France. However, there is no conclusive evidence for this. Writing around 1578, John Lesley refers to the three foreign orders of chivalry carved on the gate of Linlithgow Palace, with James V's ornaments of St Andrew, proper to this nation.
Some Scottish order of chivalry may have existed during the sixteenth century founded by James V and called the Order of St. Andrew, but lapsed by the end of that century. James VII issued letters patent "reviving and restoring the Order of the Thistle to its full glory and magnificency" on 29 May 1687, his intention was to reward Scottish Catholics for their loyalty but the initiative came from John, 1st Earl and 1st Jacobite Duke of Melfort Secretary of State for Scotland. Only eight members out of a possible twelve were appointed. After James was deposed by the 1688 Glorious Revolution and no further appointments were made until his younger daughter Anne did so in 1703, it remains in existence and is used to recognise Scots'who have held public office or contributed to national life.' James, Earl of Perth. When James VII revived the Order, the statutes stated that the Order would continue the ancient number of Knights, described in the preceding warrant as "the Sovereign and twelve Knights-Brethren in allusion to the Blessed Saviour and his Twelve Apostles".
In 1827, George IV augmented the Order to sixteen members. Women were excluded from the Order. From time to time, individuals may be admitted to the Order by special statutes; such members do not count towards the sixteen-member limit. Members of the British Royal Family are admitted through this procedure. King Olav V of Norway, the first foreigner to be admitted to the Order, was admitted
James V of Scotland
James V was King of Scotland from 9 September 1513 until his death, which followed the Scottish defeat at the Battle of Solway Moss. His only surviving legitimate child, Queen of Scots, succeeded him when she was just six days old. James was the son of King James IV of Scotland and his wife Margaret Tudor, a daughter of Henry VII of England and sister of Henry VIII, was the only legitimate child of James IV to survive infancy, he was born on 10 April 1512 at Linlithgow Palace and baptized the following day, receiving the titles Duke of Rothesay and Prince and Great Steward of Scotland. He became king at just seventeen months old when his father was killed at the Battle of Flodden Field on 9 September 1513. James was crowned in the Chapel Royal at Stirling Castle on 21 September 1513. During his childhood the country was ruled by regents, first by his mother, until she remarried the following year, by John Stewart, 2nd Duke of Albany, next in line to the Crown after James and his younger brother, Alexander Stewart, Duke of Ross, who died in infancy.
Other regents included Robert Maxwell, 5th Lord Maxwell, a member of the Council of Regency, bestowed as Regent of Arran, the largest island in the Firth of Clyde. In February 1517 James came from Stirling to Holyroodhouse, but during an outbreak of plague in the city he was moved to the care of Antoine d'Arces at nearby rural Craigmillar Castle. At Stirling, the 10-year-old James had a guard of 20 footmen dressed in his colours and yellow; when he went to the park below the Castle, "by secret and in right fair and soft wedder," six horsemen would scour the countryside two miles roundabout for intruders. Poets advised him on royal behavior; as a youth, his education was in the care of University of St Andrews poets such as Sir David Lyndsay. William Stewart, in his poem Princelie Majestie, written in Middle Scots, counselled James against ice-skating: To princes als it is ane vyce,To ryd or run over rakleslie, Or aventure to go on yce, Accordis nocht to thy majestie. In the autumn of 1524 James was proclaimed an adult ruler by his mother.
Several new court servants were appointed including Henry Rudeman. Thomas Magnus, the English diplomat, gave an impression of the new Scottish court at Holyroodhouse on All Saints' Day 1524: "trumpets and shamulles did sounde and blewe up mooste pleasauntely." Magnus saw the young king singing, playing with a spear at Leith, with his horses, he was given the impression that the king preferred English manners over French fashions. In 1525 Archibald Douglas, 6th Earl of Angus, the young king's stepfather, took custody of James and held him as a virtual prisoner for three years, exercising power on his behalf. There were several attempts made to free the young King – one by Walter Scott of Branxholme and Buccleuch, who ambushed the King's forces on 25 July 1526 at the battle of Melrose, was routed off the field. Another attempt that year, on 4 September at the battle of Linlithgow Bridge, failed again to relieve the King from the clutches of Angus; when James and his mother came to Edinburgh on 20 November 1526, she stayed in the chambers at Holyroodhouse, which Albany had used, James using the rooms above.
In February 1527 Henry Fitzroy, Duke of Richmond, gave James a huntsman. Magnus thought the Scottish servant sent to Sheriff Hutton Castle for the dogs was intended to note the form and fashion of the Duke's household, for emulation in Scotland. James escaped from Angus's care in 1528 and assumed the reins of government himself; the first action James took. The Douglas family – excluding James's sister, safely in England – were forced into exile and James besieged their castle at Tantallon, he subdued the Border rebels and the chiefs of the Western Isles. As well as taking advice from his nobility and using the services of the Duke of Albany in France and at Rome, James had a team of professional lawyers and diplomats, including Adam Otterburn and Thomas Erskine of Haltoun, his pursemaster and yeoman of the wardrobe, John Tennent of Listonschiels, was sent on an errand to England, though he got a frosty reception. James increased his income by tightening control over royal estates and from the profits of justice and feudal rights.
He gave his illegitimate sons lucrative benefices, diverting substantial church wealth into his coffers. James spent a large amount of his wealth on building work at Stirling Castle, Falkland Palace, Linlithgow Palace and Holyrood, he built up a collection of tapestries from those inherited from his father. James strengthened the royal fleet. In 1540 he sailed to Kirkwall in Orkney Lewis, in his ship the Salamander, first making a will in Leith, knowing this to be "uncertane aventuris." The purpose of this voyage was to show the royal presence and hold regional courts, called "justice ayres." Domestic and international policy was affected by the Reformation after Henry VIII broke from the Catholic Church. James V did not tolerate heresy, during his reign a number of outspoken Protestants were persecuted; the most famous of these was Patrick Hamilton, burned at the stake as a heretic at St Andrews in 1528. In the reign, the English ambassador Ralph Sadler tried to encourage James to close the monasteries and take their revenue so that he would not have to keep sheep like a mean subject.
James replied that he had no sheep, he could depend on his god-father the King of France, it was against reason to close the abbeys that "stand these many years, God's service
Crown steeple
A crown steeple, or crown spire, is a traditional form of church steeple in which curved stone flying buttresses form the open shape of a rounded crown. It appeared in medieval church architecture in England and Scotland, reappeared in the 19th century as part of the Gothic Revival; the crown steeple on Newcastle Cathedral, in Newcastle upon Tyne, was erected in 1448 and is the earliest example of this form of steeple. The crown spire of St. Giles' Cathedral, was erected in 1495, rebuilt by John Mylne in 1648. Another medieval crown steeple was built at King's College, although this too was rebuilt in the 17th century, after the original blew down; the crown steeple of the Tolbooth Steeple, in Glasgow's Merchant City, was built in 1626-1634 by John Boyd, at the time was the only such steeple in western Scotland. In 1698, Sir Christopher Wren added a tower with a crown steeple to London. Crown steeples were incorporated into Gothic Revival churches; the open spire of Faversham Parish Church, Kent was built in 1797, a crown steeple was added to Tillington Parish Church, Sussex, in 1807.
Others include those at Tarbert and Bute, the Kelvin Stevenson Memorial Church, Glasgow, by John James Stevenson. A secular example tops the Wallace Monument, near Stirling, erected in 1869 to a design by the architect John Thomas Rochead; the south facade of the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, is a hybrid of gothic and classical architectural forms, topped by a crown steeple. This part of the building was designed by Aston Webb, completed in 1909. One of the most recent examples is at St. Michael's Parish Church, where an aluminium crown spire was added in 1964. A crown steeple was proposed for the top of Westminster Abbey, scheduled to be completed in 2013, in time for the 60th anniversary of the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom. However, this project has now been discontinued
