The Blessed Sacrament Chapel
The refurbishment of the Blessed Sacrament Chapel (formerly the Lady Chapel) was completed in 1960. The style is the same as that used a few years later for the refurbishment of the chancel. The Blessed Sacrament of Christ’s Body and Blood is reserved in the tabernacle at the altar for the adoration of the faithful and the communion of the sick. Above the altar is a blue and gold canopy with ten stars and the holy dove. The reredos behind the altar bears the inscriptions ‘I.C.X.C.’ (the initials of Jesus Christ in Greek) and ‘NIKA’ (‘the conqueror’ in Greek) and ‘Behold the Lamb of God’ under the arms of the central crucifix. On the altar front is the Chi-Rho monogram (the first two letters of the Greek spelling of Christ) and on the two panels on the altar rails ‘ Hail, Mary, Full of Grace’, the angel’s greeting to Mary at the annunciation.
The sanctuary lamp before the altar is by Barkentin and Krall of London (1923) and is a copy of one in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. The wooden lectern and the icon of the Madonna and Child on the front of it are the work of Father Harry Crichton.
The east window of 1960 replaces one which was destroyed in World War II and celebrates the centenary of the church. It depicts the Madonna and Child. The words ‘And the Word was Made Flesh’ from St John’s Gospel remind us of the great mystery of the incarnation which is celebrated on Christmas Day. The Te Deum windows on the south wall, so called because the Te Deum canticle says that the whole church and all living things give glory to God, depict, from east to west, St Peter, the prophet Jeremiah, St Stephen, St Augustine of Canterbury and the archangel Gabriel. Designed by the Victorian artist Alfred Hemming, the Augustine and Gabriel windows (both 1890) were originally in the south wall of the nave, the others (1905) being placed in the chapel from the beginning. A little further along is a window of St John the Divine, dating from 1905, with a skyline Calvary in the background.