Hugh Scott Chignell (died 19 September 1950) was Dean of Kimberley,

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

, and Rector of St Cyprian's Cathedral, Kimberley.

Education and ordination

Chignell was a scholar at the

Salisbury Cathedral Salisbury Cathedral, formally the Cathedral Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary, is an Anglican cathedral in Salisbury, England. The cathedral is the mother church of the Diocese of Salisbury and is the seat of the Bishop of Salisbury. The buildi ...

Choir School. Educated further at

London University The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree- ...

, his degree equipped him for an initial stint as a schoolmaster before he was ordained at

St Asaph Cathedral The Cathedral Church of Saints Asaph and Cyndeyrn, commonly called St Asaph Cathedral ( cy, Eglwys Gadeiriol Llanelwy), is a cathedral in St Asaph, Denbighshire, north Wales. It is the episcopal seat of the Bishop of St Asaph. The cathedral d ...

in North

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

South Africa

Chignell went out to

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Demo ...

, South Africa, in 1920. During four of the following fifteen years he travelled through southern Africa speaking on spiritual healing.

Kimberley

Chignell was installed as

Dean of Kimberley The Cathedral Church of St Cyprian the Martyr, Kimberley, is the seat of the Bishop of the Kimberley and Kuruman, Anglican Church of Southern Africa. The building was dedicated in 1908, becoming a Cathedral when the Synod of Bishops mandated fo ...

at St Cyprian's Cathedral on 3 March 1935, as successor to Thomas Claude Robson. It was "no easy task," John Hunter was to note of Chignell’s career, "to follow so widely loved a man as Dean Robson": but in the six years that he was at St Cyprian’s "he endeared himself to his people." In Chignell’s term in Kimberley much effort was put into the project of completing the cathedral building.

Projects at St Cyprian’s Cathedral

Lady Chapel

The cathedral's

Lady chapel A Lady chapel or lady chapel is a traditional British term for a chapel dedicated to "Our Lady", Mary, mother of Jesus, particularly those inside a cathedral or other large church. The chapels are also known as a Mary chapel or a Marian chapel, an ...

, dedicated to the memory of Robson, was the first of two major projects that materialised at this time. It was made possible by an outpouring of gratitude by "many friends" (as the memorial plaque states) for the life and work of the late Robson. The foundation stone had been laid by Mrs Euston Brown, and the chapel was consecrated by

Theodore Sumner Gibson Theodore Sumner Gibson (1885–1953) was the second Anglican Bishop of Kimberley and Kuruman and subsequently the fifth Bishop of St John's from (collectively) 1928 until 1951. Early life Born into a clerical family he was educated a ...

on 24 May 1936. Chignell appealed for further funds to furnish the chapel “according to its merits as a place of worship and beauty.” A pair of

Annunciation The Annunciation (from Latin '), also referred to as the Annunciation to the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Annunciation of Our Lady, or the Annunciation of the Lord, is the Christian celebration of the biblical tale of the announcement by the ange ...

windows was set above the altar, with further windows dedicated in the 1930s-40s.

Cathedral organ

The second of two important building projects was the addition of an organ chamber and vestry and the installation of a new three-manual organ. The organ was a gift from Tom Hill of Kimberley as a memorial to his late mother Amy Henrietta Hill. The Hill family had contributed stained glass as well, including the Great Resurrection Windows in the north transept. Chignell hoped the new organ, by J.W. Walker and Sons, would "make us quicker to praise and adore." Sadly, at its dedication on 18 November 1937, the late Hill could be present "only in spirit and not in body to hear the results of his great gift." At the time it was the "only completely electrically operated cathedral organ" in the South Africa: of wire had been used to make it work. Cathedral organist Wylie Turnbull, at St Cyprian’s from the 1920s, presented a recital after the dedication service, at which the choir had sung the

Te Deum The "Te Deum" (, ; from its incipit, , ) is a Latin Christian hymn traditionally ascribed to AD 387 authorship, but with antecedents that place it much earlier. It is central to the Ambrosian hymnal, which spread throughout the Latin Chur ...

Impressions

John Hunter would later recall that Chignell was a "deeply spiritual" man, possessed of "profound faith"; and "a man with considerable personal charm."

References

{{Anglican-southern-africa Deans of Kimberley 1950 deaths Year of birth missing