King's College Chapel | |
---|---|
![]() King's College Chapel (partly obscured by the Gibbs' Building) seen from The Backs | |
![]() | |
52°12′17″N0°06′59″E / 52.2048°N 0.1165°E | |
Location | Cambridge |
Country | United Kingdom |
Denomination | Church of England |
Previous denomination | Roman Catholic |
History | |
Status | Collegiate chapel |
Dedication | Our Lady and Saint Nicholas |
Consecrated | 1443 |
Architecture | |
Functional status | Active |
Heritage designation | Grade I listed |
Designated | 26 April 1950 [1] |
Architect(s) | Disputed |
Architectural type | Church |
Style | English Gothic |
Years built | 1446–1515 |
Specifications | |
Length | 289 feet (88 m) [2] |
Width | Vault: 40 feet (12 m) [2] |
Height | Interior: 80 feet (24 m) Exterior: 94 feet (29 m) [2] |
Number of spires | 4 |
Clergy | |
Dean | The Revd Stephen Cherry |
Chaplain(s) | The Revd Mary Kells |
Laity | |
Organist/Director of music | Daniel Hyde |
Music group(s) | King's College Choir, King's Voices |
King's College Chapel is the chapel of King's College in the University of Cambridge. It is considered one of the finest examples of late Perpendicular Gothic English architecture and features the world's largest fan vault. [3] 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 and three subsequent decades. The Chapel's large stained glass 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. [4] [5]
Henry VI planned a university counterpart to Eton College (whose Chapel 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. [6] Two years earlier Reginald was charged with sourcing craftsmen for the Chapel's construction. [6] He continued to work on the site until building was interrupted in 1461, having probably designed the elevations. [6] The original plans called for lierne vaulting, and the piers of the choir were built to conform with them. [6] Ultimately, a complex fan vault was constructed instead. [6] 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. [6] The priest and later bishop Nicholas Close (or Cloos) was recorded as the "surveyor", having been the curate of St John Zachary, a church demolished to make way for the Chapel. [7] [8] [9]
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 (1485), despite the Wars of the Roses, 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.
Above the altar, The Adoration of the Magi by Rubens, painted in 1634 for the Convent of the White Nuns at Louvain in Belgium. The painting was installed in the Chapel in 1968 amid national controversy; [10] 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, [11] but at the demolition of these steps, it was found that the floor instead rested on Tudor brick arches. [12]
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. [13]
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. [14] The Rubens was also a similar shape to the window, which "dwarfed it and made it look rather like a dependent postage stamp". [15] 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." [16]
Many religious sites suffered damage during the English Civil War as Puritans sought to remove or deface iconography they considered inappropriate. Although Parliamentarian troops stationed in Cambridge used the chapel as a training ground, the building was largely untouched. Some sources suggest that Oliver Cromwell, who had studied at Cambridge, ordered its protection. Near the altar, on the north and south walls, there is still graffiti left by the soldiers. [17] During the Second World War, most of the chapel's stained glass was placed in storage as a precautionary measure, but the chapel again avoided damage. [18]
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 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 company and dates from 1879.
This large wooden screen, which separates the ante-chapel from the choir and supports the organ, was erected in 1532–36 by Henry VIII in celebration of his marriage to Anne Boleyn. The screen is an example of early Renaissance architecture: a striking contrast to the Perpendicular Gothic Chapel; Sir Nikolaus Pevsner said it is "the most exquisite piece of Italian decoration surviving in England". [19]
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. The event is popular with students, alumni, and visitors to the city.
The Chapel is noted for its splendid acoustics. The world-famous Choir of King's College, Cambridge, consists of choral scholars, organ scholars [20] (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. It is currently Daniel Hyde. The choir sings services on most days in term-time, and also performs concerts and makes recordings and broadcasts.
The BBC has broadcast the Choir's Nine Lessons and Carols from the chapel on Christmas Eve, 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, which sings Evensong on Mondays during term-time.
The chapel is widely seen as a symbol of Cambridge (for example in the logo of Cambridge City Council).
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. 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. [21]
The current Chaplain is Revd Mary Kells, who has been in the post since September 2021. She was preceded in the post by Revd 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 to 2019, after the Revd Richard Lloyd Morgan who served from 2003 to 2014. [22]
Gothic architecture is an architectural style that was prevalent in Europe from the late 12th to the 16th century, during the High and Late Middle Ages, surviving into the 17th and 18th centuries in some areas. It evolved from Romanesque architecture and was succeeded by Renaissance architecture. It originated in the Île-de-France and Picardy regions of northern France. The style at the time was sometimes known as opus Francigenum ; the term Gothic was first applied contemptuously during the later Renaissance, by those ambitious to revive the architecture of classical antiquity.
York Minster, formally the "Cathedral and Metropolitical Church of Saint Peter in York", is an Anglican cathedral in the city of York, North Yorkshire, England. The minster is the seat of the archbishop of York, the third-highest office of the Church of England, and is the mother church for the diocese of York and the province of York. It is administered by its dean and chapter. The minster is a Grade I listed building and a scheduled monument.
The Cathedral Church of the Holy Trinity,Saint Peter, Saint Paul and Saint Swithun, commonly known as Winchester Cathedral, is the cathedral of the city of Winchester, England, and is among the largest of its kind in Northern Europe. The cathedral is the seat of the Bishop of Winchester and is the mother church for the ancient Diocese of Winchester. It is run by a dean and chapter, under the Dean of Winchester.
The King's College of Our Lady and Saint Nicholas in Cambridge, also known as simply King's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. This college lies beside the River Cam and faces out onto King's Parade in the centre of the city.
Bristol Cathedral, formally the Cathedral Church of the Holy and Undivided Trinity, is a Church of England cathedral in the city of Bristol, England. It is the seat of the Bishop of Bristol. The cathedral was originally an abbey dedicated to St Augustine, founded in 1140 and consecrated in 1148. It became the cathedral of the new diocese of Bristol in 1542, after the dissolution of the monasteries. It is a Grade I listed building.
The Henry VII Lady Chapel, now more often known just as the Henry VII Chapel, is a large Lady chapel at the far eastern end of Westminster Abbey, England, paid for by the will of King Henry VII. It is separated from the rest of the abbey by brass gates and a flight of stairs.
Manchester Cathedral, formally the Cathedral and Collegiate Church of St Mary, St Denys and St George, in Manchester, England, is the mother church of the Anglican Diocese of Manchester, seat of the Bishop of Manchester and the city's parish church. It is on Victoria Street in Manchester city centre and is a grade I listed building.
A fan vault is a form of vault used in the Gothic style, in which the ribs are all of the same curve and spaced equidistantly, in a manner resembling a fan. The initiation and propagation of this design element is strongly associated with England.
Nicholas West, was an English bishop and diplomatist, born at Putney in Surrey, and educated at Eton and at King's College, Cambridge, of which he became a fellow in 1486. He also had periods of study at Oxford and Bologna.
Eton College Chapel is the main chapel of Eton College, a public school in England.
Christ Church Cathedral is the cathedral of the Anglican diocese of Oxford, which consists of the counties of Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire and Berkshire. It is also the chapel of Christ Church, a college of the University of Oxford. This dual role as cathedral and college chapel is unique in the Church of England. This gives the Dean of Christ Church a distinctive role as both head of Christ Church, Oxford as well as having the ecclesiastical function of an Anglican Dean.
The Princeton University Chapel is a Collegiate Gothic chapel located on that university's main campus in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. It replaces an older chapel that burned down in 1920. Designed in 1921 by Ralph Adams Cram in his signature style, it was built by the university between 1924 and 1928 at a cost of $2.3 million. The chapel was rededicated in an interfaith ceremony in 2002 following a major two-year restoration.
English Gothic is an architectural style that flourished from the late 12th until the mid-17th century. The style was most prominently used in the construction of cathedrals and churches. Gothic architecture's defining features are pointed arches, rib vaults, buttresses, and extensive use of stained glass. Combined, these features allowed the creation of buildings of unprecedented height and grandeur, filled with light from large stained glass windows. Important examples include Westminster Abbey, Canterbury Cathedral and Salisbury Cathedral. The Gothic style endured in England much longer than in Continental Europe.
The medieval cathedrals of England, which date from between approximately 1040 and 1540, are a group of twenty-six buildings that constitute a major aspect of the country's artistic heritage and are among the most significant material symbols of Christianity. Though diverse in style, they are united by a common function. As cathedrals, each of these buildings serves as central church for an administrative region and houses the throne of a bishop. Each cathedral also serves as a regional centre and a focus of regional pride and affection.
St George's Chapel at Windsor Castle in England is a castle chapel built in the late-medieval Perpendicular Gothic style. It is a Royal Peculiar, and the Chapel of the Order of the Garter. St George's Chapel was founded in the 14th century by King Edward III and extensively enlarged in the late 15th century. It is located in the Lower Ward of the castle.
Reginald Ely or Reynold of Ely was an English master mason and architect working in Gothic architecture in the Kingdom of England in the 15th century. He "must be regarded as one of the greatest C15 English architects" for his contribution to King's College Chapel, Cambridge - one of the most salient examples of the Perpendicular style which characterized the 14th–17th centuries of English Gothic architecture.
The Anglican Church of St. John the Evangelist, also known simply as St. John's, is located in İzmir, Turkey, in the quarter of Alsancak.
Gothic cathedrals and churches are religious buildings created in Europe between the mid-12th century and the beginning of the 16th century. The cathedrals are notable particularly for their great height and their extensive use of stained glass to fill the interiors with light. They were the tallest and largest buildings of their time and the most prominent examples of Gothic architecture. The appearance of the Gothic cathedral was not only a revolution in architecture; it also introduced new forms in decoration, sculpture, and art.
Perpendicular Gothic 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-centred arches, straight vertical and horizontal lines in the tracery, and regular arch-topped rectangular panelling. Perpendicular was the prevailing style of Late Gothic architecture in England from the 14th century to the 17th century. Perpendicular was unique to the country: no equivalent arose in Continental Europe or elsewhere in the British Isles. Of all the Gothic architectural styles, Perpendicular was the first to experience a second wave of popularity from the 18th century on in Gothic Revival architecture.
English Gothic stained glass windows were an important feature of English Gothic architecture, which appeared between the late 12th and late 16th centuries. They evolved from narrow windows filled with a mosaic of deeply-coloured pieces of glass into gigantic windows that filled entire walls, with a full range of colours and more naturalistic figures. In later windows, the figures were often coloured with silver stain, enamel paints and flashed glass. Later windows used large areas of white glass, or grisaille, to bring more light into the interiors.