St John's Chapel, Hurstpierpoint College, Reredos 1865
Hurstpierpoint College was founded by Nathaniel Woodard in August 1849 and is part of the Woodard Corporation. St John's Middle Grammar School, as it was named at the time, was based in a cottage in Star Lane, Shoreham with just two boys as pupils. As the school grew it was transferred to The Mansion House in Hurstpierpoint Village, West Sussex in 1850
Woodard commissioned architect Richard Carpenter to design a new College, and the early English gothic building that was constructed in the 1850s is still the central part of the campus today. The school is designed around two quadrangles, with an Inner and Outer Quad, and incorporated into the main building is the College Chapel, St John's. It was built to accommodate up to 300 pupils and opened on 21st June 1853 to around 150 boys. Today there are over 1,000 pupils at the school
The Chapel was part of the original building but in 1865 a series of sculptures were commissioned to show the life of St John. The plan seemed to have been to have these behind the altar and on one wall, but only the three large sections behind the altar was completed
The Eagle lecturn talked about in the newspaper article below was removed from the college and is believed to have been sent to Lincoln College, Oxford, the college of the original Headmaster of Hurstpierpoint, Edward Clarke Lowe. In 1849 Lowe joined Rev Nathaniel Woodard at Shoreham as second master at St Nicholas College Lancing. Woodard had just begun his efforts to found, by public subscription, a system of Church of England education for the middle classes. In January 1850, Lowe became first headmaster at Hurstpierpoint College, the first middle school of the system, where he stayed until the end of 1872. He made a lasting impression, and the school still performs Shakespeare plays as he established them in 1854, and celebrates the "Lowe's Dole", an annual presentation to the choristers which he funded
21.10.1865
The John Bull reports “The intention is ultimately to cover the lower part of the side and the east walls of the sanctuary with an architectural composition containing life-size sculptures representing the principal events in the life of St John…..these arches each enclose one of the pieces of sculpture, the Crucifixion ( in the centre ), the Agony in the garden and St John at the sepulchre of Our Lord… the central sculpture is not at present finished. These, with the other sculptures and figures, will be the work of Forsyth of London. The total cost of the reredos is estimated at upwards of £1,200”
24.03.1868
The West Sussex Journal reports “A splendid Eagle lecturn of brass has been presented to St John’s chapel, Hurstpierpoint, anonymously through the Headmaster. It is from the design of Mr. Carpenter, and has been cast by Messrs. Potter, of South Molton-Street…..the Eagle has been modelled by Mr. Forsyth from a real bird, though it is very much larger than the original…”
I would very much like to acknowledge the help of Mary-Louise Rowland, the archivist at Hurstpierpoint, who kindly arranged a guided tour of the Chapel and provided the archive photos shown below. Further information on the school and its history can be found at www.hppc.co.uk and its Archive Website www.thehurstjohnian.org
Woodard commissioned architect Richard Carpenter to design a new College, and the early English gothic building that was constructed in the 1850s is still the central part of the campus today. The school is designed around two quadrangles, with an Inner and Outer Quad, and incorporated into the main building is the College Chapel, St John's. It was built to accommodate up to 300 pupils and opened on 21st June 1853 to around 150 boys. Today there are over 1,000 pupils at the school
The Chapel was part of the original building but in 1865 a series of sculptures were commissioned to show the life of St John. The plan seemed to have been to have these behind the altar and on one wall, but only the three large sections behind the altar was completed
The Eagle lecturn talked about in the newspaper article below was removed from the college and is believed to have been sent to Lincoln College, Oxford, the college of the original Headmaster of Hurstpierpoint, Edward Clarke Lowe. In 1849 Lowe joined Rev Nathaniel Woodard at Shoreham as second master at St Nicholas College Lancing. Woodard had just begun his efforts to found, by public subscription, a system of Church of England education for the middle classes. In January 1850, Lowe became first headmaster at Hurstpierpoint College, the first middle school of the system, where he stayed until the end of 1872. He made a lasting impression, and the school still performs Shakespeare plays as he established them in 1854, and celebrates the "Lowe's Dole", an annual presentation to the choristers which he funded
21.10.1865
The John Bull reports “The intention is ultimately to cover the lower part of the side and the east walls of the sanctuary with an architectural composition containing life-size sculptures representing the principal events in the life of St John…..these arches each enclose one of the pieces of sculpture, the Crucifixion ( in the centre ), the Agony in the garden and St John at the sepulchre of Our Lord… the central sculpture is not at present finished. These, with the other sculptures and figures, will be the work of Forsyth of London. The total cost of the reredos is estimated at upwards of £1,200”
24.03.1868
The West Sussex Journal reports “A splendid Eagle lecturn of brass has been presented to St John’s chapel, Hurstpierpoint, anonymously through the Headmaster. It is from the design of Mr. Carpenter, and has been cast by Messrs. Potter, of South Molton-Street…..the Eagle has been modelled by Mr. Forsyth from a real bird, though it is very much larger than the original…”
I would very much like to acknowledge the help of Mary-Louise Rowland, the archivist at Hurstpierpoint, who kindly arranged a guided tour of the Chapel and provided the archive photos shown below. Further information on the school and its history can be found at www.hppc.co.uk and its Archive Website www.thehurstjohnian.org
Overall reredos and peripheral figures
The Agony in the Garden
The Sepulchre
The Crucifixion
Archive photos
