Carved with Purpose: The Artisans Behind Bedford’s Chapel

The Grade II* listed Chapel, which remains at the heart of the School, was opened in 1908 following a major fundraising campaign led by then Head Master John King (staff 1903–10). King believed that a school of Bedford’s stature deserved a chapel of its own and set about raising the necessary funds for its construction.

In 1904, The Ousel announced a grand architectural competition for the chapel’s design, open exclusively to Old Bedfordians. Unfortunately, the submitted entries were of such poor quality that none were deemed suitable. At the suggestion of two schoolmasters, Dr Harding and Mr Kirkman, the renowned architect George Frederick Bodley was invited to take on the project.

Bodley, a leading ecclesiastical architect with over fifty years of experience, longer than any of his contemporaries was already engaged in two major commissions: the Anglican Cathedral in Liverpool (with Giles Gilbert Scott) and the Anglican Cathedral in Washington, D.C. (with Thomas Vaughan). In 1905, he travelled to the United States to begin work on what would become the largest Anglican cathedral in the world.

Assisting Bodley was his young associate, Cecil Hare, who oversaw the construction of the Bedford School Chapel and succeeded Bodley as its architect following Brodleys death in 1907. (Hare would later design Pemberley boarding house as well.) While Bodley designed the oak panelling and the intricately carved bench ends, Hare was responsible for the reredos, pulpit, and vestries. Hare also oversaw the gradual introduction of the oak pews over nearly two decades, working with the local firm JP White & Sons Ltd of Pyghtle Works, located just off Bromham Road near the former WH Allen engineering works. JP White’s was founded by OB John Parish White (1897–1901), who began his career apprenticing with a builder in Biggleswade before establishing his own business in Dunmow, Essex. By the mid-1880s, he had taken over the Bedford firm of John Hull and, in 1896, founded the Pyghtle Works.

A recent visit to the Chapel by the great-granddaughters of Richmond Bass, who helped carve its intricate woodwork, highlighted the legacy of craftsmanship involved. Born in Birmingham in 1875 and later settling in Bedford, Richmond rose to become Head Carver at JP White’s and Sons Ltd. The firm was widely respected for its wood and metalwork, attracting commissions from leading designers and architects of the day. Its reputation was such that it opened a Bond Street showroom in London in 1906.

In addition to the Chapel and the Memorial Hall, JP White’s produced architectural woodwork for Lord Mayors’ offices and boardrooms across the UK, interior fittings for the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon (now the RSC), and ecclesiastical furnishings for churches, chapels, cathedrals, and Oxbridge colleges, including Westminster Abbey and St Bride’s Church on Fleet Street.

Notable works include:

• The carved English walnut William Carey Memorial Lectern in Westminster Abbey
• The English walnut altar in the Royal Air Force Chapel, Westminster Abbey
• A full-length carved swing mirror in Cuban mahogany, gifted to Princess Elizabeth on her marriage by the people of Bedford

During both World Wars, JP White’s shifted to military production. In WWI, it manufactured hand-shaped wooden propellers for the Royal Flying Corps. In WWII, it produced doors and rudders for Spitfires, wooden wings for gliders, bomb doors for Blenheim bombers, and jettison fuel tanks for Mosquito fighter-bombers.

The School Chapel remains one of the finest examples of the firm’s craftsmanship. Chapel Committee minutes from 27 June 1910 record that all oak work was to be carried out by JP White and Sons Ltd. The firm produced the benches, choir block panels, prayer desks, pulpit, altar rails, and the coat of arms.

Richmond Bass continued working for JP White’s until at least 1949, when, at the age of 74, he was cited as one of the two carvers of the William Carey Memorial Lectern in Westminster Abbey.