HISTORY OF THE CHAPEL OF THE HOLY TRINITY
In 1520, during the reign of Henry VIII, Lord Sandys of the Vyne built a new Chapel joined to the south side of the chancel of the Holy Ghost Chapel. This Chapel of the Holy Trinity was intended to be a private burial place for his family. The walls were built of brick with a stone dressing on the inside and outside. The Chapel of the Holy Trinity originally had a rectangular plan of 4 bays, 3-sided apse and a hexagonal stair turret at the south-west corner. At the time this Chapel was added, the east end of the earlier Chapel was altered and both Chapels were given 3 sided apses. The vaulted roof of the Chapel was richly decorated with painted scenes of the Prophets, Apostles and the Disciples.
The east wall had 9 large elegant windows which in 1592 were glazed in preparation for a visit by Queen Elizabeth I.
The Flemish stained glass in these windows was reported to have been magnificent and on a par with St Mary’s Church Fairford and Canterbury Cathedral.
The glass was removed by the Sandys family to protect it from damage during the Civil War [1640s] and never returned. Some of this Tudor glass was put into St Michael’s Church in the centre of Basingstoke but most of it was lost during bombing in 1940.
The chapel at the Vyne has painted glass windows which are said to be from the Chapel of the Holy Trinity. Small pieces were also used possibly at Mottisfont estate which was the other family home of the Sandys and in Woolbedding Church in West Sussex. Fragments remain in St Michaels and the Holy Ghost Catholic Church.
Pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23