Former Oakley Hall School Memorial Chapel

This is a memorial chapel built between 1919 and 1920 in the Perpendicular Gothic style by Leonard William Barnard for Oakley Hall School. The building is constructed from limestone with a roof of Cotswold stone slates.

The plan is of a single rectangular block orientated east-west. The chapel is a single storey and comprises four bays. The exterior features squared and coursed limestone walls set on a chamfered plinth with a single offset. The south elevation has four pointed-arched windows with two and three lights, incorporating Perpendicular tracery, diamond-panel leaded glazing, and hood moulds. The north and east elevations are plain, and the west end has a depressed-arched doorway with a deep chamfer and run-out stops, above which is an over-door light containing double doors. A window similar to those on the south elevation is positioned above the doorway. Gable ends have coped verges and moulded kneelers; the long elevations have eaves detailing. The foundation stone, inscribed with the date ‘1919’, is located at the south-west corner, slightly above the plinth.

Inside, the chapel has a single, full-height space with red terracotta tiled flooring. There is square panelling to dado height on the west wall, and remnants of a reredos survive on the east wall. The stone walls are reinforced by moulded, dressed-stone piers that extend upwards to form transverse arches supporting the roof structure, above which is a timber ceiling. A band of dressed stone runs around the walls, carved with the names of 92 former pupils of Oakley Hall School who died in both World Wars, with the names picked out in black paint. An inscription reads “SO THEY PASSED OVER AND ALL THE / TRUMPETS SOUNDED FOR THEM ON THE OTHER SIDE” above the doorway. A further band of dressed stone runs around the building at eaves height, and various carved and inscribed stone memorials to Oakley Hall School staff have been affixed to the internal walls.