Chapel of King's College London

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Coordinates: 51°30′43″N 0°06′54″W / 51.51187°N 0.11506°W / 51.51187; -0.11506
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The Chapel of King's College London
Sir George Gilbert Scott

The Chapel of King's College London is a

Sir George Gilbert Scott
in 1864.

History

The view facing the organ from the apse

The original college chapel was designed by

George IV's reign."[2] However, by the mid-nineteenth century its style had fallen out of fashion and in 1859 a proposal by the college chaplain E. H. Plumptre that the original chapel should be reconstructed was approved by the college council, who agreed that its "meagreness and poverty" made it unworthy of King's.[1]

The college approached

Sir George Gilbert Scott to make proposals. In his proposal of 22 December 1859, he suggested that, "There can be no doubt that, in a classic building, the best mode of giving ecclesiastical character is the adoption of the form and, in some degree, the character of an ancient basilica."[1] His proposals for a chapel modelled on the lines of a classical basilica were accepted and the reconstruction was completed in 1864 at a cost of just over £7,000.[1]

19th and 20th century

Scott had to overcome several structural difficulties since the chapel was situated above the Great Hall in the 19th century. He used a lightweight construction system for the arcade and upper nave walls.[4]

In the 20th century, there were many developments that changed the design of the chapel. The original pitched roof designed by Scott was covered with canvas decorated in bays with large star motifs, but these were lost when the ceiling was substituted in the 1930s.

Second World War. The architect Stephen Dykes Bower was asked to produce proposals for the chapel in 1948 following war damage. Under his direction, the windows were glazed with tinted cathedral glass instead of stained glass. The arcade columns, original designs on the aisle and apse walls were repainted.[4]

21st century

It was desired by the chaplaincy team of the college to have a chapel that is "sensitive to the tradition and relevant to the contemporary culture".[4] The chapel was planned to be restored and refurbished from 1996 but was not restored until 2001.

Apse

Apse roof, depicting Christ in Majesty surrounded by angels

The

Anglican Divines. These appear to have been an afterthought, as they do not feature in the original Gilbert Scott drawings.[5]

Deans

Main article:
List of Deans of King's College London

Organists

The following is a list of organists of the chapel:[6][7]

  • 1835: Henry Bevington
  • 1854: William Henry Monk (director of the choir from 1849)
  • 1889: John Edward Wernham (joined the college staff in 1886)
  • 1916: vacancy (organ played by students under the supervision of the Department of Theology)
  • 1937: Robert Linton Shields (officially appointed lecturer in music, as were all subsequent organists until 1980)
  • 1941: vacant
  • 1945: Harold Last
  • 1953: Ernest H. Warrell
  • 1992: David Trendell
  • 2014: Gareth Wilson
  • 2015: Joseph Fort

Chaplaincy

Main article:
List of Chaplains of King's College London

References

  1. ^ a b c d "A brief history of the Chapel" (PDF). King's College London. Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 June 2013. Retrieved 20 January 2013.
  2. ^ a b Heulin (1979), p. 1
  3. ^ "The Chapel, by Gordon Huelin" (PDF). King's College London. Archived from the original (PDF) on 21 June 2013. Retrieved 31 October 2015.
  4. ^ a b c d "History of the Chapel" (PDF). King's College London. Retrieved 31 October 2015.
  5. ^ Heulin (1979), p. 2
  6. ^ Heulin (1979), p. 6
  7. ^ "Director of Music - Dr Joseph Fort | The Choir of King's College London | King's College London". www.kcl.ac.uk. Retrieved 8 January 2022.

Bibliography

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to King's College London Chapel.
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