Page 1 - External views
To the thousands of motorists who use the A27 through Shoreham to Lancing
it stands like a beacon on the north side of the road high on the hill, its
gracious buttresses pointing like fingers towards the heavens. How many of
those same drivers have said 'I must take time and visit that marvellous place',
and how many would have done so?
But this I say - 'Do visit Lancing Chapel and take the time to see a most
remarkable achievement by it's founder Nathaniel Woodard'
View of the west side showing the marvellous buttresses
The college itself (one of many built by Woodard), was founded in 1848 by
Woodard to give more accessible public schooling than the established, exclusive
colleges of those days. R.C. Carpenter was employed as architect of the college
and it was his son, R.H. Carpenter, with his partner William Slater who completed
the design for the chapel as the place of worship both for the college and
the whole of the Woodard Corporation.
Woodard started life as a curate, throwing open his vicarage as a school,
he laid the foundations of colleges at Hurstpierpoint, Ardingly, and Lancing
to name but a few. The original school was located in Shoreham at the corner
of Church Street, afterwards converted into a laundry
The foundation stone for the chapel was laid in 1868 and the building was
completed by resident masons. The foundations are up to 70 feet deep to support
the huge weight of the masonry above ground on the prominent position it holds
in the Adur valley and the stone is Sussex sandstone from Scaynes Hill. The
crypt was used by the school for worship from 1875 until 1911 when the upper
chapel was dedicated.
Even then the west end and the proposed 350 foot tower were not built and
it remained so for many years until 1947 when The Friends of Lancing College
commissioned a new design for the west end from Stephen Dykes Bower. But the
original design for the chapel was never completed and although the west end
was built along with the rose window it is to this day still unfinished. The
high tower that Woodard envisaged would have been a beacon to those at sea
who would see the chapel from great distances and bless those that gave light
in the darkness, but the high costs of building made the tower a dream only.
Lancing college as seen from the south
The force of the wind over the many years the chapel has stood here has
caused it's own problems. The wind in this part of the county comes mainly
from the south-west and hits the west side of the chapel accordingly.
It is this constant buffering from the elements that has caused cracking to
appear on the west buttresses as the huge building takes the full force. It's
estimated that the building actually moves an centimetre or so from this movement
causing the cracking along the tops of the buttresses. Fortunately this damage
is not too severe and things are in hand to make provisions for this natural
problem.
The beautiful rose window seen from the north entrance
The chapel is open to visitors every day from 10a.m. to 4p.m. and all services
in the chapel are open to the public. For details of services and other information
and to make bookings for organised parties and coaches tours, please contact
The Verger, Lancing College, Lancing, West Sussex, BN15 0RW or telephone 01273
- 452213
The memorial window of Woodard offering the chapel to the Glory of God -
the proposed
tower can be seen just in front of his chin
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