Lancing College Chapel is the chapel to

Lancing College Lancing College is a public school (English independent day and boarding school for pupils aged 13–18) in southern England, UK. The school is located in West Sussex, east of Worthing near the village of Lancing, on the south coast of England. ...

West Sussex West Sussex is a county in South East England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the shire districts of Adur, Arun, Chichester, Horsham, and Mid Sussex, and the boroughs of Crawley and Worthing. Covering an ar ...

, England, and is an example of

Gothic Revival architecture Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...

. The chapel was designed by R.H. Carpenter and

William Slater William, Bill, Billy or Willie Slater may refer to: * William Slater (architect) (1819–1872), English architect * William Slater (cricketer) (1790–1852), English cricketer * William Slater (swimmer) (born 1940), Canadian swimmer * William A. S ...

. The foundation stone of the chapel was laid in 1868, and the crypt was dedicated on 26 October 1875, whereupon the college began to use it for worship. Structural difficulties and chronic lack of funds meant that it was another forty-three years before the upper chapel was ready for use; the chapel was consecrated and dedicated to St Mary and St Nicolas in 1911. Even then it was unfinished. A proposed tower was abandoned, and the west wall was covered in corrugated iron. The chapel is built of Sussex

sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates) ...

from

Scaynes Hill Scaynes Hill is a village in the civil parish of Lindfield Rural in the Mid Sussex District of West Sussex West Sussex is a county in South East England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the shire districts ...

in West Sussex. It is a Grade I listed building and the largest school chapel in the world. A stained-glass window was commissioned in memory of

Trevor Huddleston Ernest Urban Trevor Huddleston (15 June 191320 April 1998) was an English Anglican bishop. He was the Bishop of Stepney in London before becoming the second Archbishop of the Church of the Province of the Indian Ocean. He was best known for ...

OL, and consecrated by

Desmond Tutu Desmond Mpilo Tutu (7 October 193126 December 2021) was a South African Anglican bishop and theologian, known for his work as an anti-apartheid and human rights activist. He was Bishop of Johannesburg from 1985 to 1986 and then Archbishop ...

on 22 May 2007.

Architecture

Chapel is one of the tallest interior-vaulted churches in the United Kingdom. The apex of the vaulting rises to 90 ft (27.4m) above the floor. The original plans called for a tower at the north side and the foundations for it were laid but not used; the tower would have raised the height to well over 300 ft (90m). The chapel design is based on 13th-century English Gothic, with French influences. It follows a standard English Gothic plan, with a

triforium A triforium is an interior gallery, opening onto the tall central space of a building at an upper level. In a church, it opens onto the nave from above the side aisles; it may occur at the level of the clerestory windows, or it may be locate ...

and a very high

clerestory In architecture, a clerestory ( ; , also clearstory, clearstorey, or overstorey) is a high section of wall that contains windows above eye level. Its purpose is to admit light, fresh air, or both. Historically, ''clerestory'' denoted an upper l ...

. The French influences are noticeable not just in the massive clerestory, but also in the

apse In architecture, an apse (plural apses; from Latin 'arch, vault' from Ancient Greek 'arch'; sometimes written apsis, plural apsides) is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical vault or semi-dome, also known as an ''exedra''. In ...

and the massive

rose window Rose window is often used as a generic term applied to a circular window, but is especially used for those found in Gothic cathedrals and churches. The windows are divided into segments by stone mullions and tracery. The term ''rose window'' w ...

on the west end. The rose window, designed by

Stephen Dykes Bower Stephen Ernest Dykes Bower (18 April 1903 – 11 November 1994) was a British church architect and Gothic Revival designer best known for his work at Westminster Abbey, Bury St Edmunds Cathedral and the Chapel at Lancing College. As an architect ...

, was completed in 1977, and is the largest rose window in England, being 32 ft in diameter. A stained glass window was commissioned in memory of

OL; it was consecrated by

on 22 May 2007. The unfinished west end of the chapel, which had remained bricked up since 1978, was completed in the summer of 2021 with the addition of an open three-arched porch designed by Michael Drury, following a successful fundraising campaign by the Friends of Lancing Chapel. The tomb of the founder of the school,

Nathaniel Woodard Nathaniel Woodard (; 21 March 1811 – 25 April 1891) was a priest in the Church of England. He founded 11 schools for the middle classes in England whose aim was to provide education based on "sound principle and sound knowledge, firmly groun ...

is a prominent feature. Woodard had insisted that the chapel be built to its full height at one end first, so that if he died before completion the height could not be cut down to save money. Inside can be found three organs. The eastern organ is a two-manual mechanical organ by the Danish firm Frobenius; it was installed and voiced ''in situ'' in 1986. That year also marked the completion of the rebuild of the four-manual

Walker Walker or The Walker may refer to: People *Walker (given name) *Walker (surname) *Walker (Brazilian footballer) (born 1982), Brazilian footballer Places In the United States *Walker, Arizona, in Yavapai County *Walker, Mono County, California * ...

organ at the west end of the chapel''The History of the English Organ''. Stephen Bicknell, Cambridge University Press, 1999 – both organs were showcased in an opening concert by the American organ virtuoso,

Carlo Curley Carlo James Curley (August 24, 1952 – August 11, 2012) was an American classical concert organist who lived much of his later life in Great Britain.Black, Fergus (7 October 1989).Carlo Curley. ''Glasgow Herald''. p. 4, Retrieved 6 November ...

. The chapel was closed to visitors during the coronavirus pandemic and, subsequently, during the completion of the west end porch and refurbishment work on the school kitchens opposite, reopening to the public on 25 April 2022.

Future

The Friends of Lancing Chapel (Registered Charity No. 241403) is now committed to maintain, conserve and enhance this great building for future generations.

Gallery

File:Lancing College Chapel - geograph.org.uk - 935193.jpg, The chapel as seen from the Triforium File:Vaulted roof, Lancing College Chapel (geograph 3329144).jpg, The vaulted roof File:Lancing College Chapel, Sussex - organ (geograph 2627001).jpg, The chapel organ File:Painted roof, Lancing College Chapel (geograph 3329149).jpg, Painted roof File:Flying buttresses, Lancing College chapel (geograph 5474119).jpg, Flying buttresses File:Nathaniel Woodard.JPG, Tomb of

in the chapel File:LancingChapelWestPorch.jpg, The completed west porch

References

{{Coord, 50.84667, N, 0.30254, W, type:landmark_region:GN, display=title Chapels in England Churches completed in 1977 Buildings and structures in West Sussex Grade I listed buildings in West Sussex University and college chapels in the United Kingdom