Guided tour

 

Welcome to our brief tour of the Chapel of Trinity College.

 

This tour will give you an idea of the principal features of the Chapel.  You can click on the pictures to see enlargements.

 

1:      Victorian porch.  Built in 1872.  The text over the entrance is an extract from
one of the Psalms: May the Lord keep watch over your coming in
and your going out, from henceforth now and for ever.
Porch. Click for enlarged photograph

2:      Ante-Chapel, separated from the main Chapel
by the organ screen. 

 Ante-Chapel, seen from the organ loft. Click for enlarged photograph

 

3:      Statues, six fine sculptures of great Trinity men. 

Isaac Newton. Click for enlarged photograph Lord Macaulay. Click for enlarged photograph Alfred, Lord Tennyson. Click for enlarged photograph William Whewell. Click for enlarged photograph Francis Bacon Isaac Barrow
Sir Isaac Newton, one of the greatest scientists of all time. Thomas Babington, Lord Macaulay, historian and essayist. Alfred, Lord Tennyson, poet. William Whewell, Master and benefactor of Trinity. Sir Francis Bacon, philosopher and essayist, Lord Chancellor of England. Isaac Barrow,
Master of Trinity, mathematician
and preacher,
Newton’s tutor.

 

4:      Organ, built by Metzler of Zürich, incorporating the
organs built by ‘Father’ Bernard Smith in 1694 and 1708.
Information on the organ and details of forthcoming recitals
may be found here.		 Organ. Click for enlarged photograph
5:      Chapel. The Chapel viewed from the East end. Click for enlarged photograph
6:      Eagle lectern.  The word of God is read aloud from here.
 Lectern and stalls. Click for enlarged photograph
7:      Stalls.  The seating is laid out in an arrangement
traditional to Cambridge college chapels.
8:      Coats of arms commemorating Fellows of Trinity,
including Newton.		 Montagu crest. Click for enlarged photograph

9:    Windows.  The stained glass in the Chapel windows is mid-Victorian .  Descriptions of the theme of each window and the figures portrayed may be found here.

Window South VII Coke. Click for enlarged photograph
 Window North VI Queen Mary. Click for enlarged photograph
 Window North VIII Ray. Click for enlarged photograph
 Window South V Bacon. Click for enlarged photograph
Sir Edward Coke,
Trinity alumnus, Lord Chief Justice under James I
 Queen Mary, holding
a model of this Chapel
which she founded
 John Ray, naturalist,
Fellow of Trinity, 'the father of English natural history'		 Roger Bacon, Franciscan friar and philosopher;
'Doctor mirabilis'
10:    Pavement, with World War I memorial. 
Pavement memorial. Click for enlarged photograph
11:    World War I memorial.    The inscription around the top of the
panelling translates as: All these people were still living by faith when
they died.   They did not receive the things promised; they only saw
them and welcomed them from a distance, admitting that they were
foreigners and strangers on earth.                                                                      		 World War I memorial. Click for enlarged photograph

12:    Baldacchino and altar painting of St Michael binding Satan, by Benjamin West.

Altar painting by Benjamin West. Click for enlarged photograph Baldacchino, viewed from below. Click for enlarged photograph Satan, vanquished by St Michael: altar painting. Click for enlarged photograph Baldacchino. Click for enlarged photograph

Altar painting by
Benjamin West

 Baldacchino,
viewed from below
 Satan, vanquished by
St Michael: altar painting		 Baldacchino
13:    Master’s and Vice-Master’s stalls, either side of the Chapel
doors.  Information on the Masters of Trinity may be found here
(on the College website).		 Master's stall. Click for enlarged photograph
14:    Vestry.  This is where the clergy prepare for each service.
 Vestry altar. Click for enlarged photograph
15:    Sekford tomb (in the Vestry).  The finest tomb in the Chapel,
commemorating a 15-year-old student.
 Seckford tomb. Click for enlarged photograph
16:    Memorial brasses.  These commemorate former Fellows of
Trinity of exceptional intellectual eminence or service to the College.
 Langley brass. Click for enlarged photograph
17:    Interments.  Between 1567 and 1886 burials were made
beneath the floor of the Ante-Chapel.  The stone illustrated
commemorates Elzimar Smith, the only woman buried in the Chapel.
 Elizmar Smith interment. Click for enlarged photograph
19:    World War II memorial.  The inscription says:
Night and day they were a wall around us.
World War II memorial. Click for enlarged photograph