King’s College Chapel

King’s College Chapel

When we had the opportunity to write a post on a variety of buildings in England from a list presented to us in class, my eye instantly went to the King’s College Chapel in Cambridge. This chapel has always been a building I wanted to visit because I was constantly told stories about the amazing place of Cambridge, specifically this chapel, growing up. When my dad was in college, he studied abroad in Cambridge for 10 weeks and as I was growing up, he would tell me about his many adventures and beauty of the University; specifically the King’s College Chapel. My older sister, when she was in college, also participated in the same program at The University of Cambridge and came back sharing similar stories about the true beauty of this particular Chapel. Having grown up in the midst of these stories, I couldn’t help but catch their “England Fever” and study in London once I was in college. Before I came to England this summer, I promised myself I would visit Cambridge and see this iconic building my family so greatly loves. When the list of places to visit in my architecture class included the King’s College Chapel, I knew this was my chance to visit Cambridge and even better, with all 6 of my family members. For the past week my family has been in London with me where we have been busy touring the grand places of the country, but we left our family’s favorite destination for last. After my visit to the King’s College Chapel, I can see why my family has raved about it for so many years; the King’s College Chapel was anything but a let down and truly left me speechless with its beauty.

 

The University of Cambridge consists of 32 colleges including The King’s College. The King’s College was founded in 1441 by King Henry VI and made deliberately with a chapel. Since Henry VI was a man who was devoted to religion and learning, he felt it was vital to have a chapel on his campus. Over a period of about 100 years, the Chapel was finished after many contributors, architects, and designers helped to complete the chapel in 1536.

The King’s College Chapel is a particularly spectacular Chapel due to its accurate representation of English Perpendicular Gothic architecture. As advertised on King’s College University’s website, the chapel “is one of the most iconic and beautiful Gothic architecture buildings in the world.” After visiting this chapel with my family earlier this week, I can’t help but agree with this statement. Not only does this building known to the people in the city of Cambridge as a grand and beautiful piece of art, but to the rest of the world as well due to it’s true beauty and representation of Perpendicular Gothic Architecture.

 

King’s College Chapel Interior

Perpendicular Gothic architecture is an iconic style of England because this approach of gothic building design was first seen in England; for instance in the chapel of Henry VII in Westminster Abby. There are multiple distinctive characteristics that separate this gothic style from others including the most noticeable; fan vaulting. Fan vaulting is different that others types of vaulting in gothic buildings, like rib vaulting, due to its far more excessive decorative and detailed ornamentation of ribbing on the vaults; giving the ceiling a similar appearance to a fan. The use of large amounts of stained glass windows make the building feel more open and use less stonework, also a distinctive characteristic of this gothic style. The excessive use of stained-glass windows along the walls of a building is also a very clear attribute of perpendicular gothic architecture because this feature attracts the viewer’s attention up, towards the ceiling and heaven, focusing on the kingdom of God. This idea of vertically, is the principle that the features of perpendicular architecture are focused on.

 

Something very interesting about his building is the uniqueness of the stained glass windows. In most churches, the stained glass windows depict stories from the bible but the windows of the King’s College Chapel, are particularly unique in their storytelling. The top set of the window along the walls of the naïve, depict biblical stories from the old testament and the lower level of stained glass windows reflect biblical stories from the new testament; a incredibly exceptional highlighting the one of a kind beauty of this Chapel.

 

Stained glass windows

As my family and I first approached the King’s College Chapel, the initial thing I noticed was how long and narrow the building was and the mass amounts of stained glass windows along all of the walls. This particular feature really catches the beauty because the windows allow the natural light from one side of the building to move through the next. As I first walked into the building, my attention was immediately brought towards the ceiling, to the kingdom of God, an important characteristic of perpendicular architecture that I mentioned earlier. The decorative and ornate fan vaulting and colorful lights from the large quantity of stained glass windows illuminates the chapel of King’s College making it seem almost magical and dreamlike.

 

After visiting the Chapel of King’s College I now understand why this building was so memorable for my Dad and Sister. After being in London for 6 weeks and seeing numerous gothic style building, I can honestly say that this too was my favorite building I have seen so far. This could be due to the fact that I’ve heard about this building my whole life or that I have looked forward to seeing the chapel since I’ve been in England, but I think the chapels true and unmistakable beauty and the presence the chapel emits would persuade anyone to believe the same.

 

Sources:

Tour and exhibition at King’s College Chapel in Cambridge, England

“History of the Chapel.” King’s College, Cambridge. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 July 2012. <http://www.kings.cam.ac.uk/chapel/history.html&gt;.

Beautiful, natural, colorful lighting from the stained glass windows