Buckingham Chantry Chapel (also known as the Old Latin School) is a 15th-century

chapel A chapel is a Christian place of prayer and worship that is usually relatively small. The term has several meanings. Firstly, smaller spaces inside a church that have their own altar are often called chapels; the Lady chapel is a common ty ...

and a

National Trust The National Trust, formally the National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, is a charity and membership organisation for heritage conservation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. In Scotland, there is a separate and ...

property in

Buckingham Buckingham ( ) is a market town in north Buckinghamshire, England, close to the borders of Northamptonshire and Oxfordshire, which had a population of 12,890 at the 2011 Census. The town lies approximately west of Central Milton Keynes, sou ...

Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire (), abbreviated Bucks, is a ceremonial county in South East England that borders Greater London to the south-east, Berkshire to the south, Oxfordshire to the west, Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-ea ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. The chapel is the oldest building in Buckingham and is noted in particular for its

Norman Norman or Normans may refer to: Ethnic and cultural identity * The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 10th and 11th centuries ** People or things connected with the Norm ...

doorway. Few buildings in Buckingham date to before the 18th century, as a large fire destroyed much of the town in 1725. The chapel is a

Grade II* listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

building, being added to the list by

English Heritage English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, medieval castles, Roman forts and country houses. The charity states that i ...

on 13 October 1952.

History

The building was originally established as a hospital in the 12th century. It became a

chantry chapel A chantry is an ecclesiastical term that may have either of two related meanings: # a chantry service, a Christian liturgy of prayers for the dead, which historically was an obiit, or # a chantry chapel, a building on private land, or an area in ...

in 1268, founded by Matthew de Stratton, the

Archdeacon of Buckingham The Archdeacon of Buckingham is the senior ecclesiastical officer in charge of the Church of England in Buckinghamshire. The archdeacon has statutory oversight over the ancient Archdeaconry of Buckingham, which has existed since (at latest) the 11 ...

. The present building dates from the 15th century, when John Ruding,

Archdeacon of Lincoln The Archdeacon of Lincoln is a senior ecclesiastical officer in the Diocese of Lincoln – he or she has responsibilities within his archdeaconry (the ancient Archdeaconry of Lincoln) including oversight of church buildings and some supervision, d ...

, undertook rebuilding work in 1471 and 1481. The building was later used by the

Royal Latin School The Royal Latin School (RLS) is a co-educational grammar school in Buckingham, England. It has continually existed for almost six hundred years; receiving a Royal Charter in this time and moving premises three times. In September 2011 the scho ...

, with the chantry priests probably serving as the first schoolmasters. A schoolmaster's house was added to the north. The school remained on the site until 1907, when expansion prompted a move to new buildings on Chandos Road. Further restoration work was undertaken by Sir

George Gilbert Scott Sir George Gilbert Scott (13 July 1811 – 27 March 1878), known as Sir Gilbert Scott, was a prolific English Gothic Revival architect, chiefly associated with the design, building and renovation of churches and cathedrals, although he started ...

in 1875. The chapel was given to the

in 1912. It is still owned by the Trust, and is open to the public as a second-hand bookshop.

References

External links

Buckingham Chantry Chapel information at the National Trust
15th-century church buildings in England Churches completed in 1481 National Trust properties in Buckinghamshire Buckingham {{Buckinghamshire-geo-stub