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The Archives
THE HISTORY OF THE CHAPEL IN ITS CENTENARY YEAR….
When the new school in Bath was first opened in 1852, it was not possible to fund the construction of a chapel; postponing the building of the chapel saved £875 on the overall construction costs. The dining room was used for worship instead (hence the stained-glass windows), as were Wesleyan chapels in Bath.
In fact, this was the only time the boys were allowed off the school site. Notably, on Sundays, the juniors went to the chapel in Walcott and the seniors to New King Street, in a church that was severely damaged by bombing in the Second World War and subsequently pulled down.
In this cartoon, the boys can be seen descending the hill in “Divisions” four abreast and returning by themselves via a variety of routes. According to Michael Bishop, a former archivist, there were constant reminders to the boys to behave well and “remember the feelings of old military men in Queen Square,” although it seems such requests were not always heeded! slate roof) throughout, with three-light side windows, a five-light west window and a five-lighted apsidal end to the chancel. The chancel is finished in “stuc” plaster with stone dressings, to the arches. The organ chamber - an organ is still to be hoped for - on the south side and the vestry on the north. The whole of the woodwork is oak, and the floor, which slopes gently up to the west end, is paved with oak blocks. The building is well lighted with electricity, and the heating and ventilation are of the most up-to-date character…”
The now Grade II listed War Memorial Chapel was designed by Gunton and Gunton, a London-based firm of architects, built by Messrs. Hayward and Wooster of Bath and opened on 16th June 1922. It is said to be built in the Neo-Perpendicular Gothic style. Buglers from the Somerset Light Infantry sounded, “The last post” before Owen Spencer Watkins dedicated the memorials within it “to the Glory of God and in memory of those who gave up their own lives that others might live in freedom, and of Him who gave his whole life in the service of youth”. Sadly, 116 old boys and three former members of staff died in the Great War. The stained-glass west window above the gallery (a piece of work by Messrs. Morris & Co., of Rochester Row, London) is the gift of the Old Boys to the memory of those who laid down their lives in the war.
A magazine article dated July 1922 reads:
“A chapel at Kingswood is the dream of seventy years or more … we cannot describe in detail the beauty of this worthy memorial … The masonry is of local stone (that is a Bath limestone ashlar with a Welsh
Chapel from South West c.1930s
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(Fig.1) One name particularly remembered is that of, Hardy Falconer Parsons, who attended Kingswood from 1912 to 1915. The Kingswood staff remembered him as a quiet and unassuming boy, whose ambition had been to become a medical missionary. He was awarded the Victoria Cross for the way he died protecting his comrades when the enemy attacked the right flank of his battalion in the Gloucestershire Regiment with flame-throwers.
The vestibule has a number of memorials dedicated to those Old Kingswoodians who lost their lives in conflict including war memorial tablets for the war of 1914-18 (fig. 2) and the war of 1939-45 along with earlier memorials originally displayed in the Senior Schoolroom: these are for the fallen in the Boer War 1899-1902 (fig.3), given by Old Boys and for W.J. Maillard (187379), (fig.4) Surgeon in the Royal Navy who was awarded the V.C. for gallantry in Candia in 1898. The memorial for World War II (fig.5) is in Derbyshire Limestone and was unveiled by the Rev. R.T. Watkins M.C. (himself an Old Kingswoodian KS 1924-32) on Remembrance Sunday, 1950.
Also, the vestibule has memorials dedicated to John C. Tribbeck (KS 1943-50) killed in action, aged 20, in the Korean War in 1952 (fig.6) and David A.G. Boyce (KS 1998-2005) killed in action in Afghanistan, aged 25, in November 2011 (fig.7).
There are several stained-glass windows, but to highlight in detail just one window is the vibrant sower window (Barber Memorial Window) situated in the middle of the south side. It was a gift in 1936 of Mr Edward Gethryn Barber who was at Kingswood School between 1869 and 1875. He was a generous benefactor, and Governor, dedicating the window in memory of the life and work of his brothers, notably: the Rev. Dr W.T.A. Barber at Kingswood between 1869 and 1876 and C.A. Barber at school between 1871 and 1877. The elder was
Principal of a Missionary High School in China for eight years and then Headmaster of the Leys School from 1898 to 1919 and Principal of Richmond College from 1919 to 1929. In 1919, he was President of Conference and laid the Kingswood Chapel foundation stone in 1920. The younger, a Scholar of Christ’s College, Cambridge and D.Sc., was an expert in tropical agriculture, a Government Botanist in Madras 1898-1912 and sugar cane expert to the Government of India from 1912 to 1919. The window is the work of Hugh Easton.
The window depicts the sower sowing the seed. The bottom three lights show sea, ploughed land, the sower, weeds, stones and a tree. The upper three lights continue with sea, good soil and tree, and introduce two sailing ships, clouds, sky, rocky cliffs and a castle: all the tracery lights are taken up by the sky.
The chapel has a wealth of additional memorials and furnishings, including:
Another memorial window gifted by the Rev. John and Caroline Day is poignantly dedicated to their sons, who all attended Kingswood between 1907 and1910: Albert Eustace who died at Loos in 1915; Hubert Victor who died at Arras in 1917 and John Gilders who died in 1920.
The window next to the chancel on the south side was the gift of Mr G.S. Pickard for many years a Governor of the School. The subject is “Blessed are they that mourn for they shall be comforted.” In the lower lights there is the Easter scene. The Angel of the Resurrection is in the central light with two mourners – Mary Magdalene with the vase of ointment and Joseph of Arimathea with a reproduction of the tomb. The three upper lights show figures symbolising "Faith," "Hope'" and "Courage."
The original stalls for the Headmaster and officiating Minister are in memory of a group of Old Boys who died in World War II.
On the north wall of the chancel is the memorial brass to T.G. Osborn, Headmaster from 1866 to 1885. With similar dedications to Alfred Barrett Sackett, Headmaster from 1928 to 1959 and to Laurie Campbell, his years of service date from 1970 to 1987. The chancel windows are a memorial to Mr Walter Percy Workman, Headmaster from 1889-1918. The central figure is of Christ and the other four show the Evangelists with appropriate emblems. These four windows were placed a few months after the original chapel dedication.
And finally, the refurbishment of the chapel’s pipe organ has been made possible in its centenary year thanks to a number of very generous gifts and bequests from Old Kingswoodians.
