Its retention by Winchester College Chapel gives the senior Qs an opportunity for plainsong, generally in the wonderful setting of Chantry, the small chapel unusually set within the Cloister.  Chantry was the gift of John Fromond, Warden of the College from 1413 to 1450.  Firth, in his 1949 history, writes of him that “he ensured his temporal felicity by devotion to the pleasures of the table and his eternal welfare by providing a chantry and a priest to celebrate masses for the repose of his soul”.  Qs of old also had reason to thank him as he left money to clothe them.

After the Reformation, Chantry’s first floor priest’s chamber became a rare books store and its chapel became a library for the Warden and Fellows.  Only in 1875 was it restored to use as a place of worship.  It also includes some of the oldest stained glass in the College dating from 1393: lost after being removed from the main chapel for cleaning in 1821, it was eventually recovered and installed, in 1978, as part of Chantry’s east window.

Today, on a still Summer evening, witnessing the Qs sing Compline in this beautiful setting is a delight, and musically satisfying for the boys themselves.  It is now customary for the Year 8s to include their own Compline as one of their rites of passage, which they delivered last Saturday under the direction of Mr Cunningham.  For James P this was a first chance to ‘cantor’ in his recently changed lower voice, and for Sam H, James H and Seb B each to deliver a polished solo.  For all of us, parents, staff and boys in the congregation, it was as perfect an ending of the day as Pilgrims’ can provide.   

Bryony Pett
Q Parent