The School Chapel was raised by public conscription as a memorial to the Fallen of the Great War and for Frederick Sanderson. At the time of its building donations were received from the Great and Good of the day: friends of Sanderson like H.G. Wells and Arnold Bennett, as well as numerous Old Oundelians and the Worshipful Company of Grocers. Gifts included the altar, the stops on the original organ and the inscribed chairs which remain in the Chapel to this day.

Later generations left their mark on the Chapel with the gift of the ambulatory windows by Hugh Easton, the John Piper windows in the sanctuary and the new Frobenius organ. The Lucas family also assisted with funds to purchase the new Copeman Hart organ which has enhanced the worshipping and musical lives of the School.

The most recent donation to the Chapel has been the scheme of thirty-six stained glass windows given by Alex Patrick, OO, in memory of his brother Andrew, which has transformed the building's appearance.

Work on the scheme began five years ago when the artists spent a week in the School meeting pupils and staff. The design process involved three sets of designs on paper before the construction of working cartoons for the finished windows, and the new windows include three pieces of artwork by pupils of the School. The theme on the north aisle moves from the Garden of Eden through the Old Testament to the story of Jesus. The windows in the south aisle were installed in 2002, and the angels at the west end of the Chapel herald the scheme in a dramatic way.

Ian Browne
Senior Chaplain

August 2004