- Type of Memorial
- Chapel: Dedicated within church building
- WMR Reference Number
- 11706
- Description
- In the Chapel of All Souls, Kitchener Room, canted corners which support broad ribs of vault. Tablet on west wall records creation of chapel as a memorial & framed scroll describes components of chapel.
Ribs are ornamented with recess panels, alternately rectangular and square. They support an octagonally-framed centrepiece carved with oak leaves and acorns. 1920s furnishings with stone altar with frieze of putti and integral with it the reredos and a Pieta. Saints Michael and George flank tablet on west wall with recumbent marble effigy of Kitchener, in full military dress with a pillow supporting the head, placed before them. An incised tablet forming part of the wall stonework connects the statues of the saints standing sentinel at the head of the effigy. The carved Kitchener coat of arms depicts oak leaves and two horses either side of a coronet-capped shield; a motto THOROUGH is carved on a banner at its foot.
- Inscription
- (framed scroll) THE CHAPEL OF ALL SOULS/ The Chapel of All Souls was pre-/ sented to St. Pauls Cathedral by the/ Kitchener Memorial Committee as a/ permanent memorial to Lord Kitchener who/ lost his life in the sinking of the Hampshire/ in June 1916. The dominant idea of the/ Chapel is the spirit of sacrifice which char-/ acterised the great soldier whose memory/ it enshrines and which inspired the armies which/ rose at his call. The utmost importance, there/ fore, is given to the Pieta which represents the Sacrifice of the Death of Christ. The figures/ of the Warrior Saints [Saint Michael and/ Saint George], the recumbent figure of Lord/ Kitchener and the Pieta are all the work of/ Mr Reid Dick, R.A. In a recess in the North/ wall of the Chapel will be found the illum-/ inated Roll of Honour, containing the names/ of Royal Engineetrs of all ranks who gave/ their lives in the Great War, 1914-1918. The/ large silver candlesticks are of special note as/ they are wrought mainly from cups and/ other trophies won by members of the London/ Rifle Brigade who also fell in the war./ Grant them, O Lord, eternal rest/ and let perpetual light/ shine upon them.
(tablet on wall at head of effigy): GLORY TO GOD/ IN THE HIGHEST/ THIS CHAPEL IS SET/ APART IN MEMORY OF F.M. EARL KITCHENER/ HIS MAJESTY,S SECRETARY/ OF STATE FOR WAR AND/ ALL OTHERS WHO FELL 1914-1918.
(Effigy) MDCCCL. THE WHOLE WORLD IS THE TOMB OF/ A GREAT MAN AND/ HIS NAME LIVETH FOR EVERMORE MCMXVI