page_title: Princeton University Chapel
section_title: Interior
hierarchical_section_title: Princeton University Chapel / Description / Interior
caption_attribution_description: Princeton University Chapel; Princeton, New Jersey
context_page_description: The Princeton University Chapel is located on that university's main campus in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. It replaces an older chapel that burned down in 1920. Designed in 1921 by Ralph Adams Cram in his signature Collegiate Gothic style, it was built by the university between 1924 and 1928 at a cost of $2.3 million. Martin Luther King, Jr., delivered a sermon there in 1960. The chapel was rededicated in an interfaith ceremony in 2002 following a major two-year restoration.
  Its size and design evoke a small cathedral of the English Middle Ages. The only university chapel of its size at the time it was built was King's College Chapel at the University of Cambridge. The foundation is poured concrete, and the superstructure is sandstone and limestone. The main sanctuary consists of a narthex, a gallery, a nave, two transepts joined by a crossing, and an elevated choir. The chapel's extensive iconography consists of stained glass, stonemasonry, and wood carvings. Among the stained glass are four "great windows", one facing each cardinal direction, and four "Christian epic" windows in the walls of the choir. The iconography was planned by Albert M.
context_section_description: Measured in the interior, the chapel is 249 feet (76 m) long, 93.5 feet (28 m) wide at its transepts, and 78.5 feet (24 m) high at the crossing. Most of the interior is limestone, but the aisles and the central area of the choir are Aquia Creek sandstone. Sound-absorbing tile is mounted on parts of the wall and vault. Running west to east, the main sanctuary consists of a narthex, a gallery, a nave, two transepts joined by a crossing, and an elevated choir; it seats almost 2,000. The building's southeast corner houses a vestry.
  Inscribed on the narthex wall facing the nave is "A Prayer for Princeton", which as of 2008 was still used in services at the chapel. Another inscription, from Psalm 100, refers to Westminster Choir College, which holds its commencement ceremonies in the chapel. Two staircases on the east and west of the narthex lead to an upper gallery, which looks out upon the nave.
  Three doorways lead from the narthex into the nave, which is 74 feet (23 m) high and named for Hibben. It is divided into three vertical levels: an arcade at ground level, a triforium beneath the roofs of the aisles, and a clerestory. The configuration and its proportions are typical of English churches, but the nave's vaulted ceiling and the colonnettes supporting it recall French churches. The gallery above the narthex is at the level of the triforium. The aisles are narrower than in medieval churches and are used for passage rather than seating. The south aisle features five window bays, while the north has four; where the easternmost bay would be is the entrance to a side chapel called the Blessed Sacrament Chapel. The pews in the nave are constructed from wood originally intended for Civil War gun carriages; over 100 carvers spent more than a year producing the intricate carvings.
  The northern transept is named for Henry Gurdon Marquand, the benefactor of the Marquand Chapel, which burned to the ground in 1920 and which the present chapel was built to replace. An American flag flown by the USS Princeton hangs from the transept's north wall. The southern transept is named for Chester Alwyn Braman, the first donor to the University Chapel Fund. A staircase leads from the Braman Transept to the Bright Pulpit.
  The choir, named Milbank Choir for Elizabeth Milbank Anderson is elevated by several steps. An altar stands at the far east end. The altar and the choir stalls were built and carved by Irving and Casson, A. H. Davenport Company, in Sherwood Forest oak; Cram speculated that the wood may have dated from the time of Robin Hood. According to Stillwell, the woodwork "represents an outstanding example of American craftsmanship."
  An oak made pulpit stands in front of the choir facing the nave. It originated in the north of France, probably in the mid-1500s. Its French Renaissance style suggests that it was made during the reign of Henry II. The lectern is also oak and dates from the 1600s. It had been used in a church near Avranches, France, for 200 years. A private individual purchased it shortly before the confiscation of church property during the French Revolution. It changed hands several times before Hibben obtained it for the chapel.
  The chapel's organ has 7,897 pipes in 135 ranks and 109 stops. It was designed by Ernest M. Skinner and installed in 1928. Skinner invented the contra fagotto stop for the Princeton chapel organ in response to a request by Princeton's director of music. In 1990 the organ was dismantled and shipped to England for a major restoration by Mander Organs. Thomas Trotter gave the re-opening recital on the restored organ in 1992.
caption: The interior, looking east from about halfway through the nave. The choir and the east window, titled "The Love of Christ", are in the background.
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