Mrs Allen's Chapel

Many OBs will know Mrs Allen (Miss Morgan to some). A teacher of History since 2002 and previously Head of the History Department and Head of Alway, she is now a Head of Faculty and the Head of the vibrant Middle School Hub. In a recent chapel service she shared with the school community her thoughts on the Chapel itself.

Her reflections were especially meaningful for the Leavers who will soon become our new Old Breconians. We know they will be meaningful to Old Breconians everywhere, and we hope you will enjoy her words as much as we did. 

Chapel by REA. Thursday, 2 May 2024.

The Chapel dates back more than 750 years; it is so religiously important that three bishops chose to be buried in this very space. Originally built as a much larger chapel, it is only half the size it was when it served as a Dominican Friary in the Medieval era. Following extensive damage at the end of the Civil war, it was restored to the smaller and more intimate space it is now.   

Old Breconians often reflect upon this special and unique space when they leave, and they think with pride of the singing that brought them all together at the start of the school day. Some will return here to marry; others return when it’s time to say goodbye.

Personally, I have much to be grateful for in this beautiful space. It is here that I would be married, through a special license granted by the Archbishop. Later on, our twin sons would be christened here. And many years later it was a place where I would be comforted when life set me a challenge to overcome.

When questioning what Chapel might mean to us all, I wondered about the origin of the word ‘chapel’. It derives from the Latin word Capella, a little structure that once housed a cloak, or a ‘cappa’.

The story begins in the fourth century, with a soldier from the Roman Cavalry. His name was Martin of Tours. On a very cold day he was approaching the city gates of Amiens in Northern France, as he got closer to the gates he saw a beggar, scantily clad and clearly suffering in the cold weather. Instinctively he set down from his horse, reached for his military cloak and tore it in half. He placed the torn half of his cloak around the beggar to provide him with warmth and dignity on what must have been a cold and despairing November day.

It was a true humanitarian moment.

In his dreams that night Martin of Tours had a vision in which the beggar appeared to him, revealing himself to be Christ. This miraculous experience encouraged Martin to renounce the army and become a ‘soldier of Christ’. He went on to found a hermitage that would become a monastery and he became a Bishop, and eventually one of the Patron Saints of France closely associated with miracles. The experience outside the gates of Amiens was a defining moment in his life, borne out of care and compassion.

So what has all this got to do with Chapel?

Central to the adoration of Martin, was the remaining half of his cloak. This important relic - this cappa or cloak – was revered by kings, and it deserved to be preserved somewhere special. It was preserved in a structure referred to as a ‘capella’.

The capella was a place that housed this ‘little cloak’, which in turn became a term that we use widely for buildings that keep special and holy things safe, and from this the modern word ‘chapel’ has been derived.

The concept of this little structure that housed a cloak really touched me.

Though I wouldn’t consider myself to be a person who believes in relics, it makes me think about how this cloak was a product of a true humanitarian moment, when one person reached out to another to provide warmth and comfort to one so desolate. The act, however, achieved so much more as it helped Martin of Tours, who became St Martin, find out who he truly was.

Chapel – capella – cappa - a little cloak? Isn’t that what Chapel is to us. It surrounds us as a physical space, but is so much more. Just like St Martin’s cloak, Chapel wraps around us providing its own comfort, bringing peace and clarity of thought. It is much more than ‘just’ a physical space, it is a place where we quietly lose ourselves in the words and thoughts of others, often bringing meaning to our own thoughts - yet all the while we are in the ‘quiet company’ of one other. Chapel offers a moment of peace and reflection as we pause ahead of the busy day to come. It holds us still and wraps us in its warmth before the bluster of the day ahead.

For me Chapel is our very own cloak, wrapping around us as individuals and as a community. It is like a welcoming embrace in moments of pure happiness, a tight embrace in times of sadness, and gentle arms in the quiet times when we need to lean in to reflect. It is a place that has helped many of us to reflect on who we truly are. A place to which we all naturally return.

And as our U6 move on, one of their last moments will be spent here in Chapel. It will be our last moment to wrap around them, cloak them in one last fond embrace of memories spent and provide them with the warmest of wishes as they move forward into the future.

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We are grateful to Mrs Allen for allowing us to share her heart-felt reflections. When the Class of 2024 become Old Breconians, we know the Chapel is the first place they will want to visit when they return.

In case there should be any doubt, here is the Class of 2014 reliving memories of the Chapel at their recent Ten Year reunion.