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
transept or
narthex. This model, based on
Merton College
Merton College (in full: The House or College of Scholars of Merton in the University of Oxford) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. Its foundation can be traced back to the 1260s when Walter de Merton, ch ...
chapel (13th century), of which only chancel and transept were built though a
nave was projected, was followed at
Wadham,
New and
Magdalen Colleges, Oxford, in the new chapel of
St John's College, Cambridge
St John's College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge founded by the House of Tudor, Tudor matriarch Lady Margaret Beaufort. In constitutional terms, the college is a charitable corpo ...
, and in
Eton College. In
Jesus College, Cambridge, the transept and a short nave constitute the ante-chapel; in
Clare College an octagonal vestibule serves the same purpose; in
Christ's,
Trinity and
King's Colleges, Cambridge, the ante-chapel is a portion of the main chapel, divided off from the
chancel by the choir screen.
Notes
*
Church architecture
Terminology of the University of Oxford
Terminology of the University of Cambridge
Merton College, Oxford
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