History of Sedbergh School in 50 Objects #16: Sedbergh School Chapel
Worship has been an intrinsic part of Sedbergh School since its foundation in 1525. Founded by Roger Lupton as a Chantry School, daily prayer has featured at Sedbergh from the very beginning. The earliest scholars worshiped in St Andrew’s Church and later in the current School Library, however as the School grew in the late 1800’s, Headmaster Hart made plans for a dedicated place of worship. Initially a wooden chapel was built, near the site of the current bursary, However when this was damaged in a storm in 1893, just three years after being built, consideration was given to a more substantial and dignified structure that would withstand Cumbrian weather, and create a solid home for worship and reflection within School.
An appeal began in 1894 to raise funds and in June 1895 Bishop Boyd Carpenter of Ripon laid the foundation stone at the east end of the future Chapel. Building work began when only partial funds had been raised, leading to appeals by letter and in the pages of the Sedberghian encouraging donors to consider giving more. In March 1896 the Sedberghian included an appeal, ‘Our readers must not suppose that the whole design will be carried out, unless we are able to add to our Building Fund we shall be able to build the Nave for about two-thirds of its length and the North Transept only.’ The final cost of the building work, raised entirely through donation, was £7826 12s 11d with further donations given to fund the stained glass windows and the reredos. This figure equates to nearly £700,000 in today’s money: a phenomenal fundraising effort and testament to the loyalty of the School community during Hart’s tenure.
In the early days the Chapel featured an oak rood screen separating the congregation from the alter. This was later moved to the west end of the building and was dismantled in the 1980’s, with some of the timber being used for the pulpit on the south side of the chancel.
Sedbergh School Chapel has become a centre of remembrance for many in our community. Inside the north-west porch is a stone tablet recording those Old Sedberghians who fell in the First World War. Brass plaques around the walls and affixed to pillars within the Chapel record young Sedberghians who lost their lives due to accident or illness while still at school, or soon after leaving. Often families chose Sedbergh as the place in which they wanted to remember their sons and brothers, it being the place where young men had been happiest. A book of remembrance includes the names of every Sedberghian known to have died in either the first or the second world war. A page of the book is turned each Sunday during term time such that each boy and man is remembered equally.
Throughout the twentieth and twenty-first centuries the Chapel has retained its position as the centre point of spiritual and religious support for the School community. Many Sedberghians choose to return to Sedbergh School Chapel to be married, to baptise their children and to worship throughout their lives. As well as Sunday morning worship, the Chapel hosts candle lit evensong services, concerts by our renown Chapel Choir, and is used as a performance space by select visiting musicians such the BBC Singers.
