The Chapel was closed for a short time so that some necessary repair work might be carried out. It had became obvious that extensive rebuilding and restoration were urgently necessary. No major work had been done since the Chapel was built eighty years before. Now the work could be delayed no longer. Arthur Blomfield, the renowned Victorian architect, was commissioned to "modernise" the Chapel and to make it fit for the worship of God. It is not surprising that the Chapel authorities should choose one of the greatest Victorian architects to "restore" the Chapel. From an estimate which they sent to Chilver and the original plans drawn up by Blomfield we learn just how far this modernisation went. All the former fittings were removed including the high pews, the pulpit and the painting of the Crucifixion. Not surprisingly with the changed status of the Chapel the royal emblems and The royal pew were removed. The entire west gallery was removed thereby placing the altar in the open. The Chapel was being less restored than rebuilt. New galleries were installed on the remaining three sides, which "were not so heavy looking." Repairs were made to the roof and a new ceiling placed in the galleries and lantern. The chandelier was removed and further alterations made to the entrance lobbies and the chancel. A reredos was made of mural paintings. Refurbished and looking very different the Chapel Royal was reopened on February 6th, 1877. But the problems facing Chilver now were immense. The closure of the Chapel twice during the past two years for a period of ten months was disastrous. The number of pew renters fell to twenty-five. In 1879 the Corporation pulled down the properties which then stood between the Chapel and North Street for the purpose of road widening. The removal of these buildings left the Chapel without a sound south wall, and a contemporary wrote that "the exterior of the, Chapel Royal is a disgrace and disfigurement to the Town". It therefore became a matter of some urgency either to repair or redesign the new North Street frontage. Arthur Blomfield was again consulted and a first plan drawn up. The design though robbing the Chapel of its Georgian nature was perhaps the best of those produced and did have a certain, if thoroughly Victorian, distinction about it. It was during 1883-5 that the young Winston Churchill attended the Chapel Royal. Return to top