page_title: St Peter-in-Ely
section_title: The Comper Screen
hierarchical_section_title: St Peter-in-Ely / The Comper Screen
caption_attribution_description: English: The Ninian Comper Rood Screen at St Peter-in-Ely
context_page_description: St Peter-in-Ely or St Peter's Church, Ely is a Church of England Proprietary Chapel in Ely, Cambridgeshire, England, located on Broad Street. The chapel is in the Diocese of Ely and follows the Anglo-Catholic or high-church tradition of the Church of England.
  It is a stone structure in the Early Decorated Period style and consists of chancel, nave, south porch and south-west bell turret with one bell. The architects responsible are named in a contemporary press report as 'St Aubyn and Wadling of London'. Mr H.J. Wadling attended the dedication service as 'architect'. The east window is a notable work from the studio of Charles Eamer Kempe and there is a wooden screen and rood loft designed by Sir Ninian Comper.
  The building opened for worship in 1890 with the intention of ministering to those living and working in Ely's riverside district.
context_section_description: It is believed that the Rood Screen at St Peter-in-Ely is one of the earliest major works of Sir Ninian Comper. It dates from 1893 (rather than 1889, as stated in Symondson and Bucknall's standard work on Comper); the evidence for this is a report, dated September 22, 1893, in the Ely Weekly Guardian which tells us that the recent carving and general preparation of the screen was carried out in London, after which it was sent to Ely in sections to be assembled and painted in situ, a task which took more than three months. The screen is said to have been carved from 'Oregon pine'. Like the Kempe  Window, it was commissioned by the Revd. Salisbury Price. 
  The arches of the screen support a gallery six feet (1.8 m) wide and a rood. The underpart of the gallery is lavishly carved, richly gilded and painted. The panels of the screen are decorated with stylised flowers, whilst over the central doors are two shields bearing the arms of families who were generous in their gifts to the church: the Upcher and the Sparke families.
  The screen contains the Latin inscription Oremus huiusce pro benefactoribus capellae (Let us pray for the benefactors of this chapel) and two antiphons provided for the Feast of Holy Cross according to the Sarum rite, as follows:
  Salva nos, Christe salvator per virtutem sancte crucis qua salvasti Petrum in mari; miserere nobis (Save us, Christ our Saviour by the virtue of the holy cross, through which you saved Peter in the sea; have mercy on us)
  Crux benedicta nitet dominus qua carne pependit, atque cruore suo vulnera nostra lavit (The blessed Cross shines forth, on which the Lord hung in flesh and with his blood washed our wounds).
  As explained by the Revd Canon Chris Barber in the church's Guide Book, Comper was deeply aware of the liturgical significance of his designs and very knowledgeable about their historical context; and thus it is not surprising that in designing a chancel screen with the traditional rood and its supporters, St Mary and John the Apostle, Comper should incorporate the liturgical texts appropriate for the veneration of the Christian cross.
caption: The Comper Screen
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