Two Knights Grand Cross installed in Bath Chapel

Tuesday, 11th July 2023

Two Knights Grand Cross of the Most Honourable Order of the Bath were installed in the Lady Chapel, Westminster Abbey – the chapel of the Order – on Monday 10th July 2023.

The service was conducted by the Dean of Westminster, the Very Reverend Dr David Hoyle, Dean of the Order.

The Bath King of Arms, Air Chief Marshal Sir Stephen Dalton GCB, brought each knight forward in turn and led them to their designated stall in the chapel. The stalls are decorated with Knight’s coat-of-arms, their crest, and their flag.

The Knights Grand Cross (GCB) who swore the Oath of The Most Honourable Order of the Bath and were installed were:

General The Lord Houghton of Richmond, Chief of the Defence Staff, 2013 - 2016
General Sir Peter Wall, Chief of the General Staff, 2013 – 2016

General The Lord Houghton of Richmond GCB CBE DL is installed in the Lady Chapel

General Sir Peter Wall GCB CBE is installed in the Lady Chapel

About the Order

The Most Honourable Order of the Bath was established as a military order by Letters Patent of George I on 18th May 1725, when the Dean of Westminster was made Dean of the Order in perpetuity and the Abbey’s Lady Chapel designated the chapel of the Order. The Order was expanded in the 19th century to include civil servants as well as military officers.

The Order’s origins were in a medieval custom when before the ceremony a knight took a ritual bath symbolic of spiritual purification and spent a night in prayer. There is an account of this ceremony in the reign of Henry IV in 1399 and it was kept up until the time of Charles II, after which it fell into disuse.