Surrey Archaeological Collections
Surrey Archaeological Society, 2003. (updated 2023) https://doi.org/10.5284/1000221. How to cite using this DOI
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- ADS Collection: 379
- DOI:https://doi.org/10.5284/1000221
- How to cite using this DOI
SURREY ARCHAEOLOGICAL COLLECTIONS
The Lovekyns and the Lovekyn Chapel at Kingston upon Thames
NIGEL SAUL
The Lovekyn Chapel at Kingston upon Thames, founded in 1309 by Edward Lovekyn, is a rare example of a free-standing medieval chantry chapel. Its history was traced in a major article in the Collections by Major Alfred Heales in 1883, but no explanation was offered there for the founder's decision to locate his building in its unusual position outside the town by the side of a road. The suggestion is made here that Lovekyn may have contributed to the cost of repairing that road and that he chose to place the chapel close to it to prompt prayers of thanksgiving for his soul. The article also considers the architectural form of the chapel, arguing that it belongs to the 'palace chapel' type which can be traced in England to the years after the Conquest and on the Continent to the early 11th century. The remarkable and very detailed ordinances for which John Lovekyn, the founder's son, obtained approval in 1355 are explained in terms of Lovekyn's concern to guard against possible dereliction of their duties by the chaplains in the absence of supervision by an established body such as a town council. The article offers qualified support for the argument that the Lovekyn Chapel was the site of a grammar school in the town between the 14th century and the Reformation. The article concludes by offering an outline account of the restorations of the chapel in the 19th and 20th centuries.
