Welcome to Magdalen College Chapel. This sacred space, designed for Christian worship, has been the physical, cultural and spiritual centre of the College for over five centuries.
The Chapel’s foundation stone was laid in the Altar on the 5th May 1474, and services probably commenced around 1480.
The interior has changed considerably since then, with significant destruction occurring during the 16th Century Reformation and the English Civil War (1642–51), and various phases of redecoration following these upheavals. In 2023, a new organ was built and installed by Herman Eule Orgelbau.
Today the Chapel is among the most active in the University, hosting fourteen services a week during Full Term, many featuring the College’s world-famous Choir. Services are open to the public, and all are welcome to attend.
The Chapel is divided into two sections, the Inner Chapel and the Antechapel. You are currently standing in the Antechapel, and we invite you to note these features:
The Icon of St. Mary Magdalen
This Icon was commissioned in 2021 in memory of The Reverend Brian Findlay (Dean of Divinity, 1975-1984), and painted by Mr Aidan Hart. In her right hand, Mary holds the flask of the ointment she intended to use to anoint the Lord’s body, and she raises her left hand in a sign of witness, since she was the first to see the resurrected Christ and to tell others of the resurrection. She was bold, courageous and faithful, hailed by tradition as ‘equal to the Apostles’. Her encounter with Christ is recounted in John 20.11-18.
The misericords
These oak seats are the oldest items of furniture in the building, having been made for the Chapel in the 15th Century, and moved from the Inner Chapel to the Antechapel in the 1830s during a major reordering. The word ‘misericord’ comes from the Latin misericordia, meaning pity or mercy. These hinged seats tip up to form a ledge on which the Fellows and students could lean for support while standing for long periods during services. The vivid and mostly non-religious subjects which appear on these up-turned seats were normally out of sight so the carvers were free to depict everyday scenes, animals, and monsters.
The Stained Glass Windows
The windows of the Antechapel are decorated in sepia painted glass. The west window, depicting the ‘Last Judgement’ dates from the 1630s, the work of the artist Richard Greenbury, based on engravings by the Flemish printmaker Jan Sadeler I.
The Tomb
On the east side of the Antechapel is the tomb of Richard Patten, father of the College’s founder, William of Waynflete. On the opposite wall, next to the door, you will find a replica of William of Waynflete’s tomb, located in Winchester Cathedral.
Piper Window
In the north-eastern corner of the Antechapel is a piece of contemporary stained glass, mounted on the wall. It was made by John Piper (1903-1992), and it depicts a legend of Christmas Eve, with various animals proclaiming Christ’s birth.
Monuments
The walls of the Antechapel are adorned with memorials to former students and Fellows of the college:
Four notable examples include:
- The Jacobean monument to William Langton, on the north wall. He was President of the College from 1610-26. His bust is surrounded by allegorical figures and his hand rests on a skull.
- The monument to John and Thomas Lyttelton – students who drowned in the river in 1635 – above the Tomb of Richard Patten on the east wall. The inscription ends with the sombre instruction Nescis qua hora, Vigila – ‘You know not the hour, keep watch’.
- The florid oval Baroque monument to Thomas Cradock (Fellow 1671-9) on the south wall.
- The Victorian monument to Frederick Bulley (President 1855-85) on the east wall, to the right of the tomb, decorated with a pattern of roses.
The Organ
The organ was installed in 2023. It has 45 stops over four manuals and pedals, and is built along German Romantic Lines. It’s thought to be the only organ in the UK to boast free reeds (a ‘Physharmonica’ which to many will be reminiscent of the sound of a harmonium) and the only college organ in Oxford to have a tuba (which requires its own blower, owing to the higher wind pressure required to support such a big sound). Built by the highly regarded Herman Eule Orgelbau of Bautzen in Germany, it is the first Eule organ of its kind to have been built in the UK for almost 100 years.
