A BRIEF HISTORY

The War Memorial Chapel was designed by Arthur C Blomfield, who had built the Great Hall and several boarding houses for the School, and consecrated by the Bishop of Peterborough in 1923. The Roll of Honour tablets in the ambulatory were designed by Old Oundelian Sir Bertram Clough Williams-Ellis, the architect of Portmeirion. The chapel contains some of the most significant stained glass made in country in the last hundred years.

The original east window, showing St Michael, William Laxton and St Anthony, (the patron saint of the Grocers’ Company) was installed in 1928. It is not known who designed it because records at Grocers’ Hall were lost in the Blitz and when it was moved to the nave clerestory in 1956 any signature or mark was lost. In the ambulatory behind the sanctuary are to be found the memorials to Frederick Sanderson and the Fallen of the Great War, the latter were designed by Clough Williams Ellis OO. The Severn Ages of Man windows by Hugh Easton were installed in 1949. Based upon the speech in Shakespeare’s As You Like it. The seven lights are at low level and comprise memorials to pupils and staff of the time. Each has a roundel of glass with an image of the subject and a quotation to match. The strap-work surrounding these follows the spectrum of the rainbow and is an allusion to the divine mercy.

In 1956, the School celebrated its Quarter-centenary and The Grocers’ Company, commissioned the artist, John Piper to design the three windows for the sanctuary. Even before they were made up, the windows were recognised as the most innovative work of their time, combining tradition with modernity. The windows show Christ in nine forms: The Way, Truth and Life; the true Vine, Bread and Water; the Judge, Teacher and Shepherd. The central figure of each window is a green man. The figures were strongly influenced by carved portals of Chartres Cathedral and the mask-like faces drawn by Picasso, whom Piper admired. A young Patrick Reyntiens interpreted Piper’s designs and in three years produced work which received universal acclaim.

To celebrate the Millennium, the School commissioned Mark Angus to create a new series of thirty-six stained-glass windows for the nave illustrating Old and New Testament themes. 

CHAPLAINCY AT OUNDLE