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King's College Chapel is the
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 type ...
of
King's College King's College or The King's College refers to two higher education institutions in the United Kingdom: *King's College, Cambridge, a constituent of the University of Cambridge *King's College London, a constituent of the University of London It ca ...
in the University of Cambridge. It is considered one of the finest examples of late
Perpendicular Gothic Perpendicular Gothic (also Perpendicular, Rectilinear, or Third Pointed) architecture was the third and final style of English Gothic architecture developed in the Kingdom of England during the Late Middle Ages, typified by large windows, four-ce ...
English architecture and features the world's largest fan vault. The Chapel was built in phases by a succession of kings of England from 1446 to 1515, a period which spanned the
Wars of the Roses The Wars of the Roses (1455–1487), known at the time and for more than a century after as the Civil Wars, were a series of civil wars fought over control of the throne of England, English throne in the mid-to-late fifteenth century. These w ...
and three subsequent decades. The Chapel's large
stained glass Stained glass is coloured glass as a material or works created from it. Throughout its thousand-year history, the term has been applied almost exclusively to the windows of churches and other significant religious buildings. Although tradition ...
windows were completed by 1531, and its early Renaissance rood screen was erected in 1532–36. The Chapel is an active house of worship, and home of the King's College Choir. It is a landmark and a commonly used symbol of the city of
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 becam ...
.


Construction

Henry VI planned a university counterpart to Eton College (whose
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 type ...
is very similar, but not on the scale intended by Henry). The King decided the dimensions of the Chapel. Reginald Ely was most likely the architect and worked on the site since 1446. Two years earlier Reginald was charged with sourcing craftsmen for the Chapel's construction. He continued to work on the site until building was interrupted in 1461, having probably designed the
elevations The elevation of a geographic location is its height above or below a fixed reference point, most commonly a reference geoid, a mathematical model of the Earth's sea level as an equipotential gravitational surface (see Geodetic datum § Verti ...
. The original plans called for
lierne Lierne is a municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. It is part of the Namdalen region, and it is the largest municipality by area in Trøndelag. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Sandvika. Other villages include ...
vaulting, and the
piers Piers may refer to: * Pier, a raised structure over a body of water * Pier (architecture), an architectural support * Piers (name), a given name and surname (including lists of people with the name) * Piers baronets, two titles, in the baronetages ...
of the
choir A choir ( ; also known as a chorale or chorus) is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform. Choirs may perform music from the classical music repertoire, which s ...
were built to conform with them. Ultimately, a complex fan vault was constructed instead. Reginald probably designed the window tracery at the extreme east of the church's north side: the east window of the easternmost side chapel, which unlike the Perpendicular style of the others is in ''curvilinear'' Gothic style. The priest and later bishop
Nicholas Close Nicholas Close (died 1452) was an English priest. Close is widely regarded as having been born in Westmorland, in Birkbeck Fells, but may have been of Flemish descent. He was educated at King's College, Cambridge, being elected a fellow in 1443 ...
(or Cloos) was recorded as the "surveyor", having been the
curate A curate () is a person who is invested with the ''care'' or ''cure'' (''cura'') ''of souls'' of a parish. In this sense, "curate" means a parish priest; but in English-speaking countries the term ''curate'' is commonly used to describe clergy w ...
of St John Zachary, a church demolished to make way for the Chapel. The first stone of the Chapel was laid, by Henry himself, on the Feast of St James the Apostle, 25 July 1446, the College having been begun in 1441. By the end of the reign of
Richard III Richard III (2 October 145222 August 1485) was King of England and Lord of Ireland from 26 June 1483 until his death in 1485. He was the last king of the House of York and the last of the Plantagenet dynasty. His defeat and death at the Battl ...
(1485), despite the
Wars of the Roses The Wars of the Roses (1455–1487), known at the time and for more than a century after as the Civil Wars, were a series of civil wars fought over control of the throne of England, English throne in the mid-to-late fifteenth century. These w ...
, five bays had been completed and a timber roof erected. Henry VII visited in 1506, paying for the work to resume and even leaving money so that the work could continue after his death. In 1515, under Henry VIII, the building was complete but the great windows had yet to be made. The Chapel features the world's largest fan vault, constructed between 1512 and 1515 by master mason John Wastell. It also features fine medieval stained glass and, above the altar, '' The Adoration of the Magi'' by Rubens, painted in 1634 for the Convent of the White Nuns at
Louvain Leuven (, ) or Louvain (, , ; german: link=no, Löwen ) is the capital and largest city of the province of Flemish Brabant in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is located about east of Brussels. The municipality itself comprises the historic c ...
in Belgium. The painting was installed in the Chapel in 1968; this involved the lowering of the Sanctuary floor leading up to the High Altar. It had been believed that gradations were created in 1774 by James Essex, when Essex had in fact ''lowered'' the floor by 5 1/2 inches, but at the demolition of these steps, it was found that the floor instead rested on Tudor brick arches. During the removal of these Tudor steps, built at the Founder's specific request that the high altar should be 3 ft above the choir floor, human remains in intact lead coffins with brass plaques were discovered, dating from the 15th to 18th centuries, and were disinterred. The eventual installation of the Rubens was also not without problems: once seen beneath the east window, a conflict was felt between the picture's swirling colours and those of the stained glass.The Rubens was also a similar shape to the window, which "dwarfed it and made it look rather like a dependent postage stamp". Plain shutters were proposed, one on each side, to give it a triptych shape (although the picture was never part of a triptych) and lend it independence of form, which is how one sees the Rubens today. The installation was designed by architect Sir Martyn Beckett, who was "philosophical about the furore this inevitably occasioned - which quickly became acceptance of a solution to a difficult problem." During the
Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policie ...
the Chapel was used as a training ground by Oliver Cromwell's troops, but escaped major damage, possibly because Cromwell, having been a Cambridge student, gave orders for it to be spared. Graffiti left by these soldiers is still visible on the north and south walls near the altar. During World War II most of the stained glass was removed and the Chapel again escaped damage.


Great windows

The windows of King's College Chapel are some of the finest in the world from their era. There are 12 large windows on each side of the Chapel, and larger windows at the east and west ends. With the exception of the west window, they are by Flemish hands and date from 1515 to 1531. Barnard Flower, the first non-Englishman appointed as the King's Glazier, completed four windows.
Galyon Hone Galyon Hone (died 1552) was a glazier from Bruges who worked for Henry VIII of England at Hampton Court and in other houses making stained glass windows. His work involved replacing the heraldry and ciphers of Henry VIII's wives in windows when th ...
and three partners (two English and one Flemish) are responsible for the east window and 16 others between 1526 and 1531. The final four were made by Francis Williamson and Symon Symondes. The one modern window is that in the west wall, which was donated by King's alumnus Francis Stacey and is by the
Clayton and Bell Clayton and Bell was one of the most prolific and proficient British workshops of stained-glass windows during the latter half of the 19th century and early 20th century. The partners were John Richard Clayton (1827–1913) and Alfred Bell (1832� ...
company and dates from 1879.


Rood screen

This large wooden screen, which separates the
ante-chapel The ante-chapel is that portion of a chapel which lies on the western side of the choir screen. In some of the colleges at Oxford and Cambridge the ante-chapel is carried north and south across the west end of the chapel, constituting a western t ...
from the
choir A choir ( ; also known as a chorale or chorus) is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform. Choirs may perform music from the classical music repertoire, which s ...
and supports the organ, was erected in 1532–36 by Henry VIII in celebration of his marriage to
Anne Boleyn Anne Boleyn (; 1501 or 1507 – 19 May 1536) was Queen of England from 1533 to 1536, as the second wife of King Henry VIII. The circumstances of her marriage and of her execution by beheading for treason and other charges made her a key ...
. The screen is an example of early Renaissance architecture: a striking contrast to the
Perpendicular Gothic Perpendicular Gothic (also Perpendicular, Rectilinear, or Third Pointed) architecture was the third and final style of English Gothic architecture developed in the Kingdom of England during the Late Middle Ages, typified by large windows, four-ce ...
Chapel; Sir Nikolaus Pevsner said it is "the most exquisite piece of Italian decoration surviving in England".


Current use

The Chapel is actively used as a place of worship and also for some concerts and college events. Notable college events include the annual King's College Music Society May Week Concert, held on the Monday of
May Week May Week is the name used in the University of Cambridge to refer to a period at the end of the academic year. Originally May Week took place in the week during May before year-end exams began. Nowadays, May Week takes place in June after exam ...
. The event is popular with students, alumni, and visitors to the city. The Chapel is noted for its splendid
acoustics Acoustics is a branch of physics that deals with the study of mechanical waves in gases, liquids, and solids including topics such as vibration, sound, ultrasound and infrasound. A scientist who works in the field of acoustics is an acoustician ...
. The world-famous Choir of King's College, Cambridge, consists of choral scholars, organ scholars (male students at the college), and choristers (boys educated at the nearby King's College School). From 1982 until shortly before his death on 22 November 2019 the director of music for the choir was Sir
Stephen Cleobury Sir Stephen John Cleobury ( ; 31 December 1948 – 22 November 2019)Daniel Hyde. The choir sings services on most days in term-time, and also performs concerts and makes recordings and broadcasts. The
BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
has broadcast the Choir's Nine Lessons and Carols from the chapel on
Christmas Eve Christmas Eve is the evening or entire day before Christmas Day, the festival commemorating the birth of Jesus. Christmas Day is observed around the world, and Christmas Eve is widely observed as a full or partial holiday in anticipatio ...
, during which a solo treble sings the first verse of '' Once in Royal David's City''. There is also a chapel choir of male and female students,
King's Voices King's Voices is an English choir, and is the mixed-voice chapel choir of King's College, Cambridge. It is a resident choir to the college's chapel, alongside the Choir of King's College, Cambridge. Foundation and Role in College The choir was ...
, which sings Evensong on Wednesdays during term-time. The chapel is widely seen as a symbol of Cambridge (for example in the logo of
Cambridge City Council Cambridge City Council is a district council in the county of Cambridgeshire, which governs the City of Cambridge. History Cambridge was granted a Royal Charter by King John in 1207, which permitted the appointment of a mayor. The first recorde ...
).


Dean of the Chapel

The Dean of the Chapel is responsible to the College Council and the Governing Body for the conduct of services within the Chapel. King's College Chapel, like other Cambridge colleges, is not formally part of the structure of the Church of England, but the Dean is customarily licensed by the
Bishop of Ely The Bishop of Ely is the ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Ely in the Province of Canterbury. The diocese roughly covers the county of Cambridgeshire (with the exception of the Soke of Peterborough), together with a section of north- ...
. Both he and the Chaplain take a regular part in chapel services: each is normally present at services six days a week during Full Term, and each preaches once or twice a term. The Chapel is run by a Chapel Committee chaired by the Dean. A Use of Choirs Committee, also chaired by the Dean, organises the engagements of the Chapel choir. The current Chaplain is Revd Dr Mary Kells, who has been in the post since September 2021. She was preceded in the post by Revd Dr Ayla Lepine (2020–2021). Revd Tom McLean served as Interim Chaplain in 2020. He followed the Revd Andrew Hammond, who held the role of Chaplain from 2015–2019, after the Revd Richard Lloyd Morgan who served from 2003–2014.


Recent deans

* 1890 to 1893 – The Revd Dr. Alfred Hands Cooke * 1894 to 1918 – The Revd Dr. Alan England Brooke * 1918 to 1941 – The Very Revd Eric Milner-White * 1942 to 1948 – The Rt Revd Archibald Rollo Graham Campbell * 1949 to 1956 – The Revd
Ivor Erskine St Clair Ramsay Ivor Erskine St Clair Ramsay (1 November 1902 – 22 January 1956) was an eminent Anglican priest in the middle part of the 20th century. He was born on 1 November 1902 and educated at Ardvreck School, Uppingham and Glasgow University. He w ...
* 1956 to 1966 – The Revd Dr. Alexander Roper Vidler * 1966 to 1970 – The Very Revd Dr. David Lawrence Edwards * 1970 to 1981 – The Very Revd Michael Stanley Till * 1981 to 1991 – The Very Revd John Henry Drury * 1991 to 2001 – The Revd Canon Prof. George Pattison * January to September 2002 – The Revd Canon Martin Shaw (temporary Dean) * 2002 to 2004 – The Revd Prof. Christopher John Ryan * 2005 to 2009 – The Revd Ian Malcolm Thompson * 2010 to 2014 – The Revd Dr. Jeremy Morris * 2014 to present – The Revd Dr. Stephen Cherry


Gallery

File:20130808 Kings College Chapel 01.jpg, Side view of the Chapel from inside the college King's College Chapel, Cambridge, South Entrance by Henry Fox Talbot, cropped.png, King's College Chapel, Cambridge, South Entrance, by Henry Fox Talbot, circa 1845 File:King's College Chapel Vault.jpg, The vault of King's College Chapel


Bibliography

* Warrior, Josephine. ''A Guide to King's College Chapel''. Photography and design by
Tim Rawle Tim Rawle is an English architectural photographer and writer. He is best known for his photographs of buildings in Cambridge, England. Biography Tim Rawle was born in Ashford, Kent. After studying fine art and graphic design at St Martin's Sc ...
(Cambridge 1994, reprinted 1997, 2001, 2003, 2007, 2014)


References


External links


King's College: the Chapel




{{Authority control Religious buildings and structures completed in 1515
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 type ...
Chapels of Colleges of the University of Cambridge Tudor architecture Grade I listed churches in Cambridgeshire Grade I listed buildings in Cambridge