Identity area
Reference code
GC/CH
Unique identifier
Title
Date(s)
- 1715-2020 (Creation)
Level of description
Extent and medium
3 metres paper
Context area
Name of creator
Biographical history
Colleges are religious institutions in origin, one of the main purposes of which was religious worship. From the Reformation until the mid-nineteenth century both the College and University were Anglican monopolies, protected by religious tests for all fellowships and offices; and a requirement of daily common prayers was laid down in the statutes. Compulsory attendance of Chapel, which finally died out during the First World War, was upheld not only on religious grounds, but as an important part of the general disciplinary structure of the College alongside attendance of dinner in Hall and observance of a curfew. Enforcement of the rule was primarily the responsibility of the College deans, of which there were usually two, a Senior Dean and a Junior Dean.
The office of Dean, dating from the sixteenth century statutes, had traditionally been both a religious and a disciplinary role; carrying not only responsibility for performance of all Divine Services in the College but also charge of the religious and moral discipline of the students. Until the mid/late nineteenth century, the office of Dean traditionally passed among the clerical Fellows by rotation; however, with the decreasing number of clerical Fellows available and willing to serve, only one Dean was appointed and the post was taken on by career clergyman. The disciplinary role of the Dean declined, and the pastoral and religious care of undergraduates became of greater importance. This was underlined by the appointment, from 1896 onwards, of a Chaplain, whose role was not only to assist the Dean, but, as a younger man, to be in closer contact with the students. With the growth of formal theological study, the Dean was commonly expected to teach and direct studies.
(See Volume III of the Biographical History for further information regarding the history of the fabric of the Chapel).
Archival history
Immediate source of acquisition or transfer
Content and structure area
Scope and content
Records consist of
-
proceedings of committees relating to the Chapel in Caius, and management of College advowsons
-
registers of services, preachers and readers, chapel attendance and of subscriptions to oaths of allegiance and supremacy
-
term-cards, notices and circulars, orders of service, service sheets
-
sermons and addresses delivered in Chapel
-
administrative files of the Dean and Chaplain relating to religious life in Caius and the upkeep of the Chapel fabric, including papers of the Dean, John Vivian Mortland Sturdy (1933 -1996) Clergyman and theologian.
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling
Accruals
System of arrangement
Conditions of access and use area
Conditions governing access
Most administrative files relating to the Chapel are closed for thirty years from the last date on the file, except for those containing personal information, which are closed for seventy-five. Sermons and printed materials are open access with no restrictions, as are Dean Study's research papers.
Conditions governing reproduction
Language of material
Script of material
Language and script notes
Physical characteristics and technical requirements
Finding aids
Allied materials area
Existence and location of originals
Existence and location of copies
Related units of description
See records of the Precentor (PR) and Charles Oscar Brink (PPC/COB) for further information about the provision of music in Chapel; the Jeremy Taylor Society (CBS/JT) for student religious life; the papers of Joseph Needham regarding chapel (PPC); and the papers of E.S. Roberts (PPC/ESR)for information about compulsory chapel and the College Mission.
Notes area
Note
CNLB view of end of compulsory Chapel attendance; seems that it was never actually ‘abolished’ as such, but rather that the men returning from the First World War “voted with their feet” and the attendance rates dwindled gradually throughout the 1920s. (Possible to see falling numbers in Chapel attendance register, but nothing in the Gesta to show an official decision to let this happen) Interesting in that the Dean at the time was known in some ways for being a very strict disciplinarian (quite prepared to have students sent down; very much opposed to the end of the death penalty) but in this case chose not to fight against people leaving Chapel.