Trinity College Chapel, Cambridge


Trinity College Chapel is the chapel of Trinity College, Cambridge, a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Part of a complex of Grade I listed buildings at Trinity, it dates from the mid 16th Century. It is an Anglican church in the Anglo-Catholic tradition.

History

The chapel was begun in 1554–55 by order of Queen Mary and was completed in 1567 by her half-sister, Elizabeth I. The architectural style is Tudor-Gothic, with Perpendicular tracery and pinnacles. The roof is of an earlier style than the rest of the building, and may have been re-used from the chapel of King’s Hall, the college which preceded Trinity on this site. Only the walls and roof are of Tudor date.
There are many memorials to former Fellows of Trinity within the Chapel, some statues, some brasses, including two memorials to Graduates and Fellows who died during both World Wars. There are also several graves dating from earlier periods.
The chapel has a fine organ, originally built by "Father" Smith in 1694. Many alterations were made over the years until, in 1913, an almost totally new organ was built. Some of the pipes were so large that they would not fit in the organ loft and instead had to stand in a corner of the ante-chapel. In 1976 the present mechanical-action instrument, based on the surviving pipework and within the original cases, was completed by the Swiss firm Metzler Söhne. There are regular recitals on Sundays during term time. The Choir of Trinity College, Cambridge is composed of around thirty male and female Choral Scholars and two Organ Scholars, all of whom are undergraduates of the College. Besides singing the liturgy in the chapel, the choir has an extensive programme of performances and recordings. The current Director of Music is Stephen Layton.
The Ascension Parish Burial Ground contains the graves or interred cremations of twenty-seven Fellows of Trinity College, Cambridge, including three Vice-Masters.

List of Deans of Chapel

The Dean of Chapel holds responsibility for the Chapel and the Clergy at Trinity.

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