Trinity College Chapel

Trinity College Chapel, June 2020. Photo credit: Trinity College Communications

An imposing gothic structure on the main quad of the Summit Street campus, the Trinity College Chapel can be seen for miles from Hartford.

First Chapels

Trinity's first Chapel was in Seabury Hall, the central building on the original campus.

The first Chapel at the new Summit Street Campus was located in Seabury Hall's second floor beginning in 1877-78. It was meant to be temporary until a permanent building could be erected. The Chapel included exposed beams, trefoil windows, and pews arranged in choir/collegiate form.

Current Chapel

During President Remsen Brinckerhoff Ogilby's inaugural speech on November 17, 1920, he said that architecture “reflects not only [an institution's] history but also its aspirations and its very soul.” An ordained Episcopal priest who strongly believed Trinity was still a “church college” despite no longer being predominantly Episcopalian, Ogilby also was perturbed by the absence of a college Chapel.

The funds to build the Chapel were gifted to the College by William Gwinn Mather, Class of 1877, and plans for its construction began immediately; by December 1928, Ogilby reported that the architectural firm Frohman, Robb and Little had already “submitted to Mr. Mather and the President preliminary sketches that indicate a future building of rare beauty.” The Chapel's construction began that same month. It was considered Ogilby's 'Great Project,' which he saw through the cornerstone laying on June 15, 1930 and consecration on June 18, 1932, to the perceived detriment of other necessary campus projects such as a new Chemistry building.

Construction

September 1930: View of the work on the Crypt Chapel, looking southeast toward Broad Street. The supporting columns for the vaulted ceiling are in place. The solid masonry walls were made of a core of brick clad on both sides with stone. Photo credit: Trinity College Archives

The Chapel was designed during the American Gothic Revival, constructed out of concrete and stone foundations, with a core of brick, an exterior surface of Indiana limestone, and an interior surface of Indiana limestone and plaster. There are also tile, brick, and stones from Trinity College, Cambridge; the Great Wall of China; and Mount Sinai “incorporated into the fabric of the building.”¹⁾ The roof of the Chapel consists of slate and copper. The Chapel stands 163 feet high and is visible for miles across Hartford and beyond. It is a perfectly unique building and was constructed the same way chapels were built during the Middle Ages.

In the December 1928 President's Report, Ogilby states: “It was exciting to discover…three crates of old stone stored away in the basement of Boardman Hall, which proved to be a triple Tudor window from that part of the palace at Whitehall built by Cardinal Wolsey [1530]. The stones are carefully numbered and in Mr. Frohman's judgment can be built into the new chapel to provide a feature of unusual charm. They were given to the College in 1887 by Mr. William R. Cone of Hartford, for just such a purpose.” Apparently, these stones were given to Cone by his son-in-law, the Reverend Arthur Delgano Robinson, after he visited London and discovered a portion of Whitehall being dismantled. In The Chapel of Trinity College (1951), it is stated that these stones were formed into the “triple window in the small room to the right of the North Chapel.” The window's stained glass features scenes from Cardinal Wolsey's life.

September 1930: Trinity College President Remsen Ogilby (second from left) and Philip Frohman (second from right) engage in on-site discussion with unidentified men during the construction process. Photo credit: Trinity College Archives

The workmen, who were encouraged to live together on-site during construction and to try their hand at stone carving, returned each year after the Chapel's completion for a meeting of the “Chapel Builders' Alumni Association,” which included a memorial service for deceased fellows and a banquet in Hamlin Hall. Master Mason Lewis Wallace loved the project so much he stayed at Trinity College afterward, as Chapel Verger (1933-1943) and Superintendent of Buildings and Grounds.

The Chapel also includes many memorials, such as the Plumb Carillon in memory of John F. Plumb, Class of 1926, and presented by his parents.

Due to the Great Depression, the Chapel remains unfinished to this day. Many decorative elements, such as uncarved limestone, stained glass windows, missing inscriptions, and more were unable to be completed. Original blueprints for the completion of these elements exist in the possession of the College and are actively being utilized to achieve the completion of the Chapel, true to the plans of its original designers. In 2015, Trinity College was bequeathed a number of world-class Gothic Revival objects by St. John’s Church, Bowdoin Street, Boston. It was one of the single greatest bequests of art in the College’s history and includes altars, crucifixes, high altar reredos, and a panel painting. It is hoped that these elements will be installed throughout the Chapel to greatly enhance its beauty.

For information on the Chapel's architectural elements, including details about the pew and choir carvings, see the 1941 and 1952 publications of The Chapel of Trinity College.