Floreat Etona: Anecdotes and Memories of Eton CollegeNevill, Ralph
History
Floreat Etona: Anecdotes and Memories of Eton College
Nevill, Ralph
Eton College
Lord Wellesley was deeply attached to his old school, and some of
the last productions of his pen were dedicated to Eton. Consequently
it was only fitting that when he died, in testimony of the strong
affection which he entertained towards the place where he received his
first impressions of literary taste, and in accordance with his desire
expressed before his death, his body should be laid to rest beneath the
College Chapel of Eton--that spot of earth which, through a long and
arduous life in many lands, was ever the nearest and dearest to his
heart. The new Lower Chapel, built 1889-1891, also contains a memorial
to Lord Wellesley in a stained-glass window, the gift of the late Mr.
A. Montgomery, who was once his private secretary.
Two Eton Headmasters are commemorated by monuments on the right
towards the eastern end of the Chapel. These are Dr. Balston and Dr.
Hawtrey, the last person to be buried within the Chapel walls. On his
breast is a badge with the arms of Scotland and the motto _Nemo me
impune lacessit_ just showing. This badge recalls an old Eton usage[6]
now extinct. The most modern monument is a statue of Henry VI., put up
over the north door to the memory of the late Mr. J. P. Carter, for
many years one of the Assistant Masters.
[SN: PINNACLES--OLD AND NEW]
In 1876, owing to much of the Headington stone used by Waynflete
having become decayed, the whole of the exterior of the Ante-Chapel
was entirely refaced.[7] This, with other restorations, of necessity
impaired a good deal of its ancient charm. On the whole the renovation
was carried out with care, but it is to be regretted that the old
pinnacles were then entirely removed and new ones (designed in a highly
ornate style of Gothic for which there is no authority[8]) erected
under the direction of Mr. Woodyer. The old pinnacles had last been
repaired in 1698-1699. A curious circumstance connected with them is
that during their removal fragments of the ancient reredos--destroyed
in 1546-1548--were discovered to have been built into their fabric.
Whatever may have been the demerits of the old pinnacles, one or two
of them which had suffered least from the hands of time should have
been allowed to remain in place, so that future generations might
realise the original design which modern taste, or lack of taste, has
chosen to discard.
One of the most interesting architectural features of the College
Chapel is the ancient holy water stoup on the right-hand side of the
door of the south porch. As may be seen in old prints, the service
bell was formerly in a sort of dovecot (irreverently called by some a
larder) placed on the roof of the porch. Here also hung the knell bell,
which, as long as the College Chapel remained the Eton Parish Church,
was tolled for all funerals. The service bell still in use, hanging in
the turret at the south-western angle, bears the inscription “Prayes Ye
Lord, 1637.”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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