Walter Poole Littlechild

“ Augustus Austen Leigh, Provost of the College from 1888 to 1905, in writing a history of the College, says: "Like other really great works, King's Chapel produces an impression which is instantaneous, and at the same time permanent. It does not disarm criticism, but [44] it compels admiration. ”

“ A large number of rebuses ending in "ton" are based upon a tun or barrel; such are the lup on a ton of Robert Lupton, Provost of Eton 1504, which appears in the spandrils of the door in the screen leading into his chapel at Eton College, or the kirk and ton of Abbott Kirkton on the deanery gate at Peterborough. The eye and the slip of a tree, which form, together with a man falling from a tree (I slip!) , the rebuses of Abbot Islip, are well known. The ox crossing a ford in the arms of Oxford, and the Cam and its great bridge in the arms of Cambridge are kindred examples. ”

“ It can truly be said that stone seems, by the cunning labour of the chisel, to have been robbed of its weight and density and suspended aloft as if by magic, while the fretted roof is achieved with the wonderful minuteness and airy security of a cobweb. Similar roofs appear in Bath Abbey (the architect of which was Dr. Oliver King, a member of King's) , in St. George's Chapel, Windsor, in Henry VII's Chapel at Westminster, in Sherborne Minster, and in the ambulatory of the choir of Peterborough ”

“ John Proctor Carter, sometime Fellow of King's and Eton, in writing a history of the chapel, published in 1867, writes thus: "So many learned authors have been at fault when they have ventured into the obscurity which envelops the history of the Freemasons, by a gang of whom this chapel, in common with, at all events, a large number of mediaeval buildings were erected, that to say a word upon the subject may seem presumptuous. ”

“ The stone used in the construction is of different kinds. The white magnesian limestone from Huddlestone in Yorkshire is that which was chiefly used in the lifetime of the Founder. The lower part of the walls was built of this; the upper part was built with stone brought from Clipsham in Rutlandshire in 1477. A third kind, from Weldon in Northamptonshire, was used for the vaulting of the choir and ante-chapel, executed in 1512 and the following years. The north and south porches were vaulted with a magnesian limestone, more yellow in colour, from the Yorkshire quarry of Hampole. ”

“ Passenger, remember, thou art mortal; pray in an humble posture, that my soul may live in Christ, in a state of immortality." On a fillet round the tombstone the following words are engraved: "Pray for the soul of John Argentine, Master of [40] Arts, Doctor of Physick and Divinity, and Provost of this College, who died February 2, 1507. May God have mercy on his soul. Amen." [18]
The next is that of Robert Hacumblen, in the second chantry from the west on the same side. He is represented in ecclesiastical costume in processional vestments. ”

“ He certainly received from the King the grant of a coat of arms for his services, but it might fairly be said that John Langton, Master of Pembroke College, and Chancellor of the University, who also had the title of "Surveyor," a term generally admitted to be synonymous with architect, has an equally strong claim. But Mr. G. G. Scott, in his essay on English Church Architecture, says "the man who really should have had the credit of conceiving this great work was the master-mason, Reginald Ely, appointed by a patent of Henry VI to press masons, carpenters, and other workers." ”

“ The main subjects of the windows are the life of the Virgin Mary and the life of Christ. The scenes begin with the Birth of the Virgin, in the westernmost window on the north side, and proceed through the principal events of our Lord's life to the Crucifixion in the east window. This is followed on the south side by the following events as recorded in the Gospels, of which the last depicted is the Ascension in the one opposite the organ. ”

“ By a natural reaction others have been led to discredit altogether the existence of such a society, and to consider the masonic fraternity merely as one of the various trade corporations or guilds whose relics have descended to our own day. ”

“ There is no doubt that in the original scheme of the windows this was intended to be the subject of the west window. [8] Like the east window, it consists of nine lights, divided by a transom into two tiers. The general idea is to set forth the scene of the Judgment as within a vast hall of semi-circular plan. In the central light of the upper tier is seated the figure of our Lord on the throne of judgment. On each side of the principal figure are groups of angels jubilant with trumpets and bearing emblems of the Passion. ”

“ The theory of a traditional science, confined entirely to the members of a secret society that had ramified over the whole of civilised Europe, and to whom developments in architecture were due, has been pushed to extremity by some writers. ”

“ For one thing it is much larger, and has nine vertical divisions instead of five. Here, in the tracery, in addition to other heraldic badges, is the "Dragon of the great Pendragonship," holding a banner with the arms of Henry VII. Also there is seen the ostrich feather of the Prince of Wales with the motto "Ich Dien." [7]
In this window there are no Messengers with inscriptions; only six scenes from the Passion beginning at the bottom left hand corner, and each occupying three lights instead of two. In the first three lights below the transom is the Ecce Homo ”

“ Still, the idea was there, and it remained for a later [5] generation only to imitate and complete. In 1483, just before Edward IV's death, we find that nearly £1,300 had been spent on the chapel, about £1,100 given by the King, and £100 by Thomas Rotherham, Archbishop of York, Lord Chancellor of England, formerly a Fellow of the College, but it is not stated how the deficit was met. ”

“ He was also engaged in 1693 to keep in order the organ in Jesus College Chapel, Cambridge, at a yearly salary of £3.
[13] Heads of Colleges have the right of impaling with their own arms the arms of the College of which they are the head in the same way as a Bishop impales the arms of the See over which he presides. ”

“ He believes in the resurrection; (2) he does not care what man thinks of him, it is God who shall decide whether he was good or bad.
Money was not a dominant motive with those employed on our old buildings, but master and man worked together for a common object, with a common sympathy ”

“ The canopies of the stalls and the panel work east of them were executed in 1675-1679.
The Altar Table, from a design by Mr. Garner, was first used on Advent Sunday, 1902; and the woodwork round the chancel was finished in 1911. The architects were Messrs. Blow and Billary, the work being executed by Messrs. Rattee and Kett, the celebrated ecclesiastical builders, of Cambridge. ”