The Memorial Chapel of The Leys is situated on the grounds of

The Leys School The Leys School is a co-educational independent school in Cambridge, England. It is a day and boarding school for about 574 pupils between the ages of eleven and eighteen, and a member of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference. Histo ...

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a 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. Cambridge bec ...

, England. It was built as a memorial to the first headmaster of The Leys,

William Fiddian Moulton William Fiddian Moulton (14 March 1835 – 5 February 1898) was an English Methodist minister, biblical scholar and educator. Biography William's father, James Moulton, was a Wesleyan Methodist minister and he had at least three other brothers, ...

. Plans for the chapel, designed by architect Robert Curwen, were first presented to the school's second headmaster, W. T. A. Barber; he deemed the project an unnecessary luxury. School services continued to be held instead in the school hall, until 1904 when the school governors approved the chapel's construction. The cost, including all furnishings, was estimated in 1925 to have been £39,000. The foundation stone was laid at the marble West Door by

Princess Helena of Waldeck and Pyrmont Princess Helen of Waldeck and Pyrmont (later Duchess of Albany; 17 February 1861 – 1 September 1922) was a member of the British royal family by marriage. She was the fifth daughter and child of George Victor, Prince of Waldeck and Pyrmont, a ...

on 8 June 1905 and the chapel was consecrated on 27 October 1906. The building's design is

Gothic Revival 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 ...

, to complement the surrounding buildings. All visible woodwork is in

oak An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' (; Latin "oak tree") of the beech family, Fagaceae. There are approximately 500 extant species of oaks. The common name "oak" also appears in the names of species in related genera, notably ''L ...

. The roof comprises elaborately worked trestles and

tracery Tracery is an architecture, architectural device by which windows (or screens, panels, and vaults) are divided into sections of various proportions by stone ''bars'' or ''ribs'' of Molding (decorative), moulding. Most commonly, it refers to the s ...

, somewhat after the lines of the famous roof of

Westminster Hall The Palace of Westminster serves as the meeting place for both the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons and the House of Lords, the two houses of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Informally known as the Houses of Parli ...

. The floor is of alternating black and white marble. The chapel was designed to seat 350 boys, with the west balcony reserved for household staff.

Memorials

In 1914, 927 Leysians joined the

armed services A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distinct ...

and 146 of them died in the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. A memorial to the old Leysians who died, costing £48,000 and funded by donation, was on 6 June 1920 unveiled by the Duke of York, later

King George VI George VI (Albert Frederick Arthur George; 14 December 1895 – 6 February 1952) was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 until his death in 1952. He was also the last Emperor of Ind ...

. The memorial consists of four rows of names divided in the middle by a statue of an armoured

St George Saint George (Greek language, Greek: Γεώργιος (Geórgios), Latin language, Latin: Georgius, Arabic language, Arabic: القديس جرجس; died 23 April 303), also George of Lydda, was a Christians, Christian who is venerated as a sa ...

, below which is written "To The Immortal Memory of Old Leysians Who Fell In The War Of 1914–1919", and in large block capitals the words "My Marks And Scars With Me To Be A Witness For Me That I Have Fought His Battles Who Now Will Be My Reward."

Stained glass

The chapel has fourteen windows; the Governors commissioned H. J. Salisbury to decorate them all according to a unified theme. The work was modelled on the windows of the King's College Chapel, Cambridge{{Clarify, date=December 2008. Because The Leys is a Methodist school, the work was required to be simple and avoid complex symbolism. All but one of the windows depicts passages from the New Testament concerning the story of Christ; the large window over the main entrance instead shows ten Old Testament subjects forecasting the coming of the Messiah.

Pulpit

The pulpit is made of oak and has a brass inscription reading "To the Glory of God and for the Preaching of His holy word this Pulpit was carved by Anne Hobson, Helen Mary Chubb, and

George Hayter Chubb George Hayter Chubb, 1st Baron Hayter (29 August 1848 – 7 November 1946), known as Sir George Chubb, 1st Baronet, from 1900 to 1927, was a British businessman. Chubb was the son of John Chubb (d. 1872), and the grandson of Charles Chubb (1772 ...

, and presented by the latter to The Leys, October, 1906."

Benches

There are thirty-two oak benches in the chapel, thirty with square ends and two with sloping ends.

Memorials

Stained glass

Pulpit

Benches

Further reading