St Edward's 150 Years - by Nicola Hunter

St Edward’s: 150 Years

Chapter 4 / The Chapel

Left: Chapel tower repairs in 1946. Below left: The Chapel in 1954.

Opposite: Clockwise from top left: St Edward the Martyr on the south side of the Chapel tower; Entrance to the Chapel from the south decorated for a wedding;KennethGrahamewindow,MemorialChapel; hand of sculptor Nick Mynheer’s angel in the Chapel porch; Jazz Holy Communion conducted by Revd Kerr in the NorthWall; Revd Shaw preaching‘in the round’.

in late 1928 or early 1929, had to be increased in response to Warden Kendall’s expansion of the School. At the same time ventilation was improved by making it possible for some windows to open and a door was cut in the north-east corner of the Chapel. More space was created by reducing the aisle to 3’6” (106.7cm). In 1929 the Simeon Memorial Chapel was designed by Harold Rogers (OSE) at the south-west corner of the Chapel; it was finally completed in 1934. He created the Memorial Chapel from the original vestry, to which he made a slight extension eastwards, and he also designed a new vestry on the opposite side of the Chapel, at the building’s north-west corner. Rogers also designed the porch at this time so that now the Chapel was entered by two doors, from the north and south, and this allowed for extra seats in what used to be the ante-chapel. During World War II the Chapel bells were again silenced after the evacuation of Dunkirk and did not ring again until the victory at El Alamein. The evening service had to be earlier when the days were short, as the building was not properly blacked out. Warden Kendall followed Ferguson’s practice of reading out the list of the fallen at Evensong, often, hardly surprisingly, choking with emotion. On VE Day the Warden led a service of thanksgiving in the Chapel and it was lit up at commemorate the fallen – whether to add to the Great War Memorial or to build something new. In 1945 Harold Rogers added the black screen with three arched openings, donated anonymously by Revd Arthur Macnamara in memory of John Simmonds (OSE) killed in action in Tunisia in 1943, to the Memorial Chapel. It is in dark oak with each opening headed by figures, carved by Harold Youngman, of Saints George, Martin, Francis and Aldhelm, with the arms of St Edward, St George and St Martin on the panels in between. On the west wall of the Memorial Chapel is a tablet with the names of those who night for the first time since the war had begun. From 1943, discussions took place as to how to

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