Eton College Chapel is the main
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 ...
of
Eton College
Eton College () is a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. intended as a sister institution to King's College, ...
, a
public school in
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 was planned to be a little over double its actual length, but this plan was never completed owing to the downfall of the founder
Henry VI. A plaque on a building opposite the west end marks the point to which it should have reached.
[ The Chapel is built in the late ]Gothic
Gothic or Gothics may refer to:
People and languages
*Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes
**Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths
**Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...
or Perpendicular
In elementary geometry, two geometric objects are perpendicular if they intersect at a right angle (90 degrees or π/2 radians). The condition of perpendicularity may be represented graphically using the ''perpendicular symbol'', ⟂. It ca ...
style.
The fan vaulting
A fan vault is a form of vault used in the Gothic style, in which the ribs are all of the same curve and spaced equidistantly, in a manner resembling a fan. The initiation and propagation of this design element is strongly associated with Eng ...
was installed in the 1950s after the wooden roof became infested with deathwatch beetles. It was completed in three years and is made of concrete, faced with stone, and supported by steel trusses with hand-carved Clipsham stone for the stone ribs supporting each bay.
Services
Eton College Chapel is in frequent use, with at least one service a day during termtime, and many additional services which are in popular demand, ranging from Taizé to Roman Catholic Communion, to Compline. Almost every morning there is a compulsory service, attended by different 'Blocks' (school years) depending on the day, something which has been both criticised and defended by boys in ''The Chronicle'' (the school magazine). These last no more than twenty minutes.
Founder
Henry VI attached the greatest importance to the religious aspects of his new foundation and he planned that the services would be conducted on a magnificent scale by providing an establishment of 10 fellow priests, 10 chaplains, 10 clerks and 16 choristers. There were to be 14 services a day plus prayers that were said. There would also be masses offered for the Founder's parents and after his death for the Founder instead. This last custom is consistent with the Catholic practice of praying for a dead person's soul in order to hasten its progress from Purgatory
Purgatory (, borrowed into English via Anglo-Norman and Old French) is, according to the belief of some Christian denominations (mostly Catholic), an intermediate state after physical death for expiatory purification. The process of purgatory ...
to Paradise
In religion, paradise is a place of exceptional happiness and delight. Paradisiacal notions are often laden with pastoral imagery, and may be cosmogonical or eschatological or both, often compared to the miseries of human civilization: in parad ...
.
This was befitting for a church that was to become a great place of pilgrimage in Europe: for about a decade pilgrims attracted by the relics
In religion, a relic is an object or article of religious significance from the past. It usually consists of the physical remains of a saint or the personal effects of the saint or venerated person preserved for purposes of veneration as a tang ...
and the available Indulgence
In the teaching of the Catholic Church, an indulgence (, from , 'permit') is "a way to reduce the amount of punishment one has to undergo for sins". The ''Catechism of the Catholic Church'' describes an indulgence as "a remission before God of ...
s flocked to Eton on the Feast of the Assumption
The Assumption of Mary is one of the four Marian dogmas of the Catholic Church. Pope Pius XII defined it in 1950 in his apostolic constitution ''Munificentissimus Deus'' as follows:
We proclaim and define it to be a dogma revealed by Go ...
in August, when there was a fair lasting six days on the fields.
For around forty years before the chapel was completed, services were held in the parish church, which was dedicated to the Assumption of the Virgin. In the 1460s the annual influx of pilgrims died out, and the large establishment of clergy was permanently reduced in size.
The chapel services remain a key part of the life of the college: boys attend Chapel once on Sundays in addition to compulsory services three or four days a week, and the numerous optional services that take place out of school hours.
A second chapel, Lower Chapel, was built in 1890 to accommodate the growing number of boys at the school.
The choir
The chapel choir is made up of boys from the school, and is directed by the Precentor and Director of Music, Tim Johnson. Up to 75% of the choir are former members of various cathedral and collegiate choirs, and many have been admitted under the school's Music Scholarship scheme. Many continue their singing careers as choral scholar A choral scholar is a student either at a university or private school who receives a scholarship in exchange for singing in the school or university's choir. This is a common practice in the UK at schools attached to cathedrals where the choir is ...
s at Oxford
Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...
or Cambridge
Cambridge ( ) is a College town, university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cam ...
. Formerly there was a "professional" choir whose trebles attended the Choir School.
The choir sings at three or four compulsory services a week: recent cuts in the services mean that the choir only sings on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. There are a number of other services that are optional.
Acoustics and lighting
The chapel is unique amongst its comparably-sized peers in that it eschews sound boards (a common feature of English churches and chapels in which medium-to-large-scale services and concerts are heard) in favour of what the former Precentor, Ralph Allwood
Ralph Allwood (born 30 April 1950) is a British choral conductor, composer and teacher, who currently holds the appointment of Fellow Commoner advising in Music at Queens' College, Cambridge. He was previously the Precentor and Director of Mus ...
, calls a more "organic" sound produced without the use of equipment (apart from microphones in the pulpit and lectern).
The audio reinforcement system in the chapel, installed by DRV Integration, was the winner of the AV Magazine audio project of the year award in 2003.
Wall paintings
The wall paintings in the chapel are considered to be the most remarkable work of art in the College. They are the work of at least four master painters, including William Baker, who took eight years to complete them (1479–87). In the Flemish style, they adorn the sides of the chapel. On the north side the paintings depict the Virgin Mary (to whom the chapel is dedicated), while those on the South side tell a popular medieval story about a mythical empress. These paintings were whitewashed over in 1560 as a result of an order from the new Protestant
Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...
church authorities which banned depictions of mythical miracles. They were left obscured and forgotten for the best part of 300 years until they were rediscovered in 1847, and it was not until 1923 that they were cleaned, restored and revealed by the removal of the stall canopies.
Chapel windows
In World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
, all of the chapel glass, except a window above the organ, was shattered by a bomb that fell on the nearby Upper School. The replacement East Window is the work of Evie Hone
Eva Sydney Hone RHA (22 April 1894 – 13 March 1955), usually known as Evie, was an Irish painter and stained glass artist.Nicola Gordon Bowe (May 2009)Hone, Eva Sydney (1894–1955) ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', online editio ...
. The designs for the windows on either side are by John Piper and were executed in glass by Patrick Reyntiens
Nicholas Patrick Reyntiens OBE (; 11 December 1925 – 25 October 2021) was a British stained-glass artist, described as "the leading practitioner of stained glass in this country."
Personal life
Reyntiens was born in December 1925 at 68 Ca ...
. The subjects are divided into four miracles on the north side and four parables on the south side. The miracles are: the Miraculous Draft of Fishes, the Feeding of the Five Thousand, the Stilling of the Waters, and the Raising of Lazarus. The parables are: the Light under a Bushel, the House built on the Rock, the Lost Sheep, and the Sower.
Burials
*Henry Wotton
Sir Henry Wotton (; 30 March 1568 – December 1639) was an English author, diplomat and politician who sat in the House of Commons in 1614 and 1625. When on a mission to Augsburg, in 1604, he famously said, "An ambassador is an honest gentlema ...
List of Conducts
The Conduct (meaning "hired priest
A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in partic ...
") is the senior chaplain of Eton College and has specific responsibility for the College Chapel. They preside over its daily services and any occasional offices (weddings, baptisms, etc).
* The Revd Henry Harper (1831 to 1856); later Bishop of Christchurch and Primate of New Zealand
* The Revd Ralph Sadleir (1964 to 1970)
* The Revd David Jones (1970 to 1974)
* The Revd Roger Royle
Roger Michael Royle (born 30 January 1939) is a British Anglican priest and broadcaster. He is known for having presented the '' Sunday Half Hour'' programme on BBC Radio 2 for 17 years from 1990 to 2007.
Early life and education
Royle was b ...
(1974 to 1979)
* The Revd James Bentley TD (1979 to 1982)
* The Revd Paul Bibby (1982 to 1987)
* The Revd John Witheridge (1987 to 1996)
* The Revd Charles Mitchell-Innes (1996 to 2007)
* The Revd Canon Keith Wilkinson (2008 to 2016)
* The Revd Stephen Gray (From 2016)
See also
*English Gothic architecture
English Gothic is an architectural style that flourished from the late 12th until the mid-17th century. The style was most prominently used in the construction of cathedrals and churches. Gothic architecture's defining features are pointed ar ...
*Late Gothic architecture
Gothic architecture (or pointed architecture) is an architectural style that was prevalent in Europe from the late 12th to the 16th century, during the High and Late Middle Ages, surviving into the 17th and 18th centuries in some areas. It ...
*Eton College
Eton College () is a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. intended as a sister institution to King's College, ...
* Eton College Collections
*Syon Abbey
Syon Abbey , also called simply Syon, was a dual monastery of men and women of the Bridgettine Order, although it only ever had abbesses during its existence. It was founded in 1415 and stood, until its demolition in the 16th century, on the l ...
*King's College Chapel, Cambridge
King's College Chapel is the chapel of King's College in the University of Cambridge. It is considered one of the finest examples of late Perpendicular Gothic English architecture and features the world's largest fan vault. The Chapel was bu ...
*King's College, Cambridge
King's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Formally The King's College of Our Lady and Saint Nicholas in Cambridge, the college lies beside the River Cam and faces out onto King's Parade in the centre of the cit ...
*Eton Fives
Eton fives, a derivative of the British game of fives, is a handball game, similar to Rugby fives, played as doubles in a three-sided court. The object is to force the other team to fail to hit the ball 'up' off the front wall, using any varie ...
References
External links
Eton College history
{{Coord , 51.4916, -0.6087, type:landmark_region:GB, display=title
Chapels in England
University and college chapels in the United Kingdom
Churches in Berkshire
Grade I listed churches in Berkshire
Eton College