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The Chapel is 25 feet long and 14 feet wide and built of Bath Stone with a high pitched tiled roof and large wooden south doorway. The builders were Messrs Tompsett and Kingham of Farnham whose tender was £540, and work was completed early in 1889.
The pulpit and vestments cupboard are still in their original positions, and two of the pews now provide seating in the museum. The remarkable windows in the Chapel are memorials to the men of Ash, Wyke and Normandy who died in the Great War, gifts of local benefactor Henry Morris Chester of Poyle Park. The window at the east end was unveiled in February 1921. Dr Chester personally removed the Union Jack with which it was covered, saying, "I have great pleasure in presenting this beautiful window to the glorious memory of those who laid down their lives that we might live in safety". The Reverend Lambrick said prayers, and members of the Ash Burial Board looked on. The following year Dr Chester added the window at the west end. Dr Chester also provided the organ for the chapel, which is now on display in the museum. The glass was made by J Whippell and Company of Exeter and London, and is beautifully executed in strong vibrant colours. The artist was John Ives, who was himself conscripted into the Army during the closing months of the Great War. Ives worked for Whippell from 1912 until he retired in 1932, and examples of the work of this talented artist can be seen throughout England as well as overseas. |
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The chapel windows depict forceful warlike images of biblical characters, some with unfamiliar names like Abijah, Benaiah, Abishai and Jashobeam. One character, Jonathan, 'son of Shimeah the brother of David', killed a giant at the Battle of Gath, an allusion perhaps to the need to overcome monstrous enemies as in the story of David and Goliath. If you look closely at the east window you will notice that the giant is shown with six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot. The small windows in the north and south walls depict Absolom, Jonathan (son of King Saul) and St Michael.
The windows are recorded in the UK National Inventory of War Memorials at the Imperial War Museum. |