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Lady Chapel
In 1905, the south transept was made into the Lady Chapel. Between 1912 and 1913, the transept was extended east under the direction of architect Basil Champneys in commemoration of Canon Chichester’s silver jubilee as vicar.
The site of the alter in the earlier chapel is marked by a cross in the floor paid for by the Sunday School children who each contributed a penny. The extended Chapel was consecrated on 14 March 1913.
Lady Chapel Fittings
The fine, sensitive altarpiece showing the carved figure of the crucified Christ between the Virgin Mary and St John, was designed by G. F. Bodley and given in 1904 . To either side of it is a memorial in opus sectile by Powell to Lady Ashcombe, who was the daughter of a former vicar and mother of Mrs Chichester.
Several alterations and additions were made to the decorations on the east wall. There is further work in opus sectile by Powell in this chapel, including two memorials to the Canon’s son, W.G.C. Chichester who was killed in the First World War.
The hassocks were made in 1972 to mark the centenary of the birth of Dr Ralph Vaughan Williams. Each features a different aspect of his life and work.
Lady Chapel Windows
Details of the Lady Chapel windows below are numbered from the east end (from the alter). All are made up of three lights and tracery:
Window 1: This window shows the Resurrected Christ in the centre light, and St John leading the Virgin away from the Cross to the left, and St John and the seated Virgin to the right. Below in the centre is the Presentation and angels to either side, all carrying appropriate scrolls. This window which was made in 1913 by James Powell & Sons was commissioned by Ellen Taylor in memory of her husband, Frederick, who died in 1912. The window cost £120.00.
Window 2: The maker and designer of this window has not yet been identified but it is in a late 15th century style similar to the work of C. E. Kempe. It consists of three lights and tracery and the subjects are all connected with the Virgin either in roundels of late 15th or 16th century Flemish glass in grisailles, or in the predictions of the Old Testament Prophets about her with scrolls written in Latin, all shown among foliage and grapes. In the first light at the top is Micah, then a roundel of the Visitation and below Isaiah. At the bottom is King Edward the Confessor and St Andrew. In the centre light there is a roundel with the Nativity at the top, King David in the centre and a roundel with the Annunciation below. At the bottom is St John the Evangelist. In the third light at the top is Jeremiah, a roundel of the Presentation in the centre and Malachi below. At the bottom are St Martin and St Swithin, representing this church and the diocese of Winchester in which Dorking was then placed. The tracery contains much heraldry which is probably personal to Edward Arnold, who died in 1911 and to whom the window is dedicated by his children.
Window 3: The subject of this window is the Transfiguration. This window has had a complicated history; it was first made in 1874 and was then the first window in the rebuilt church, placed where it is now but then as part of the south transept. The figures show Christ between Moses and Elias with Saints Peter, John and James below. There are angels in the tracery. The design was by H. Burrow and it cost £120.00. It was given in memory of James Joyce, Vicar of Dorking from 1837 to 1850, and Sarah his wife, by Laura Cubitt, their youngest daughter. It seems that the paintwork peeled badly, and in 1914, as part of the refurbishment of the south transept into the current Lady Chapel, the window was redone, with James Powell & Sons paying for part of this work.
The windows on the north wall of the Lady Chapel are part of the Chancel and are detailed here.
