Cambridge St John's College chapel marks 150 years

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St John's College chapel from the airImage source, St John's College,Cambridge
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The chapel, on St John's Street, towers over other buildings in the area

A university chapel once described as a "white elephant" is marking 150 years since its consecration.

The chapel replaced a "relatively modest" Tudor building in 1869 to "better reflect the size and wealth" of St John's College, Cambridge.

The 175ft (53m)-long building was designed by George Gilbert Scott.

College president Frank Salmon said the chapel was "integral to college life" and had been "the perfect space" to develop its "world-famous" choir.

Image source, Alamy
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The chapel has been described as having "a poor acoustic for the spoken word but fantastic for music"

Image source, St John's College, Cambridge
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When it was built, its 50m (165ft) high tower was the tallest in Cambridge - until the Our Lady and the English Martyrs Church was built on Hills Road in 1890

"There has always been an issue about whether the chapel was a white elephant," said Dr Salmon.

"But the chapel is more integral to our academic activities than other big college chapels, with a welcome and farewell service for students every year."

Image source, St John's College, Cambridge
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About 900 people packed the new chapel for its consecration on 12 May 1869 - today the chapel is only allowed to seat 290 people

Dr Salmon added: "It was the perfect space to develop the choir from one of elderly men to one of boy choristers and choral scholars - transforming it into the world-famous one we have today.

"And while Victorian architecture was mostly despised in the 20th Century, it's a really high-quality building."

Two services were organised to be held in the chapel on Sunday to mark the anniversary, external.

Image source, St John's College, Cambridge
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The new chapel led to the recruitment of boy choristers and music specialist male students called choral scholars, transforming the college choir

Image source, St John's College, Cambridge
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The Choir of St John's, Cambridge today

A chapel with 'fantastic' music acoustics

  • The college, which was founded by Henry VII's mother Margaret Beaufort, first raised the idea of replacing its Tudor chapel in 1687

  • The chapel has a wooden ceiling, which is "a poor acoustic for the spoken word but fantastic for music", Dr Salmon said

  • The choir of 15 choral scholars and 20 boy choristers sing daily services, and its concerts and services are regularly broadcast on radio

  • By the 19th Century the college had more students, and a larger chapel was considered essential

  • It took more than two years to build the Gothic Revival-style church which cost £78,319 - the equivalent of £9m today, external

  • The college laid on a special train to bring St John's graduates from London for its consecration on 12 May, 1869

Image source, St John's College, Cambridge
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The Ascension Day service has been sung from the chapel roof since 1902, including on a windy one in 1967

Image source, St John's College, Cambridge
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"There is an autumnal mellowness to the colours used in the chapel," the Dean, Canon Mark Oakley, said

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