St. John's College, CambridgeScott, Robert Forsyth
History
St. John's College, Cambridge
Scott, Robert Forsyth
St. John's College (University of Cambridge) -- History
The new Chapel was, as we have said, opened in 1869, and the old Chapel
then cleared away. The woodwork of the stalls had been transferred to
the new Chapel, but most of the internal fittings were scattered. The
ancient rood-screen stands in the church of Whissendine, in
Rutlandshire, and the old organ-case in Bilton Church, near Rugby, and
other parts of the fabric were dispersed; it was perhaps inevitable. Sir
Gilbert Scott's idea was that the new Chapel should be of the same
period of architecture as the old, but it is absolutely different in
design; in the lover of things old there must always be a feeling of
regret for what has gone. The mural tablets in the old Chapel were
removed to the new Ante-Chapel, the slabs in the floor were left. It is
worth noting that Eleazar Knox, a Fellow of the College, and one of the
sons of John Knox, the famous Scotch Reformer, was buried in the Chapel
in 1591. His elder brother, Nathanael Knox, was also a Fellow. To the
north of the old Chapel, and bordering on the lane which has been
mentioned, stood the Infirmary of the Hospital which preceded the
College. This was originally a single long room, of which the eastern
end formed an oratory. In this the poor and sick, for whose benefit the
Hospital was founded, were received, and Mass said for them, and in
their sight, as they lay in their beds. This Infirmary, after the
foundation of the College, was devoted to secular uses. For some time
it was used as a stable and storehouse for the Master. Then later it was
fitted up with floors and turned into chambers. It was approached by a
tortuous passage at the eastern end of the Chapel, and was popularly
known as the Labyrinth. When the Infirmary was taken down a very
beautiful double piscina was found covered up on the walls; this is
preserved in the new Chapel.
The new Chapel is built of Ancaster stone, and is in the style of
architecture known as Early Decorated, which prevailed about 1280, the
probable date of the Chapel of the Hospital. Sir Gilbert Scott very
skilfully made the most of the site, and by the device of the transeptal
Ante-Chapel made full use of the space at his disposal.
At the springs of the outer arch of the great door are heads of King
Henry VIII. and of Queen Victoria, indicating the date of the foundation
of the College and of the erection of the Chapel. On the north side of
the porch is a statue of the Lady Margaret, and on the south one of John
Fisher, Bishop of Rochester.
The statues on the buttresses are those of famous members of the
College, or of its benefactors. Those facing the Court are William
Cecil, Lord Burghley; Lucius Carey, Viscount Falkland; John Williams,
Lord Keeper to James I.; Thomas Wentworth, Lord Strafford; William
Gilbert, author of _De Magnete_, in which the theory of the magnetism
of the earth was first developed, and physician to Queen Elizabeth;
Roger Ascham, and the Countess of Shrewsbury.
[Illustration: MONUMENT OF HUGH ASHTON]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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