The College Chapel Porch

Sir George Gilbert Scott

1863-69

St John's College

St John's Street, Cambridge

[See commentary below]

Photograph and text Jacqueline Banerjee 2008 (with thanks to the college staff for their helpful information here).

[You may use this image without prior permission for any scholarly or educational purpose as long as you (1) credit the photographer and (2) link your document to this URL.]

Other Views

St John's College Chapel, Cambridge

The apse, College Chapel

Nikolaus Pevsner complains about the "apsidal form" of this chapel, suggesting that as a whole it does "not join up with the rectangular shapes of the other buildings and the court" (154). However, with its Gothic windows, intricate tracery and wall sculpture, St John's Chapel blends in very well with its surroundings here. Just within the entrance stands the figure of the Lady Margaret Beaufort, mother of Henry VII, who founded the college in 1551. She holds a model of the college and stands on the figure of Ignorance (on the other side, not visible here, stands Bishop Fisher, who was responsible for building the college after her death; he stands on the figure of Vice). Over the porch, holding a chalice, appears a relief of St John the Evangelist, after whom the college is named. Many craftsmen were employed on the chapel; according to Pevsner, the firm responsible for the stone carving was Farmer & Brindley of London (153).

References

Pevsner, Nikolaus. The Buildings of England: Cambridgeshire. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 2nd ed. 1970.

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Last modified 13 August 2008