Battell Chapel

Located on the corner of Old Campus on the corner of Elm Street and College Street, Battell Chapel is the largest chapel of Yale University. Finished in 1876, the chapel was a gift from Joseph Battell as well as other family members, providing space for daily chapel services at Yale (mandatory until 1926).

Lying between Durfee hall and Fanram hall, the building is designed with a High Victorian Gothic style of architecture made of rough brown New Jersey and Ohio Sandstone and blue Ohio sandstone for decorative elements. All three of these buildings were designed by the architect Russell Sturgis, Jr., which were undoubtedly the major achievements of his career, and were built with the purpose of separating Yale’s Old Campus from the rest of the city.

Currently, Battell Chapel is used for the Sunday services of the University Church at Yale University. During weekdays, it also serves the purpose of a classroom, concert hall, and a society hall for student meetings that can be accessed upon hours of the church. 

Yale University

Yale was first founded in 1701, and with their move to New Haven in 1718, Yale’s famous Old Campus was formed. As plans for Old Campus developed and expanded through the 18^th and 19^th century, Yale President Noah Porter announced the removal of “old brick row” and the introduction of new dorms, starting with Farnam hall in 1870 (another building designed by Sturgis, Jr.). As these additions were made, Battell Chapel was also introduced to the area, no longer making Old Campus strictly for housing. The introduction of the new chapel gave the campus a new dimension and use for students and faculty as discussed in the “Social History” section above.

The chapel has always been owned by Yale, as it was donated by Joseph Battell and his family. The overall design of the chapel appears to based on Keble College Chapel (Oxford), built by English Victorian architect William Butterfield. Battell Chapel was the result of a design competition held in 1866 as a memorial for students as well as alumni who died in the Civil War, which received attention in the British architectural journal, The Builder.

While mandatory daily chapel services are no longer required at Yale (this was the main use for Battell Chapel before the early 20^th century), the chapel still serves as a religious center for students on campus; however, it is also used for concerts (it is the main performance center for the Greater New Haven Youth Ensembles of Neighborhood Music School and the Greater New Haven Symphonic Wind Ensemble and Concert Band) as well as some of Yale’s student organizations. By making Battell Chapel open to the public through concerts and such, it allows the chapel’s use to go beyond just the Yale community and influence the rest of the New Haven population.

Battell Chapel is located in the northeast corner of Yale’s Old Campus quadrangle Inside the chapel, there are many memorials dedicated to alumni and faculty. Montomery Schuyler described the frescoed walls as “symphonic”, with the painted and gilded woodwork. Many of the windows are large, glass mosaics, depicting Yale related people and figures who played an important role in the university’s development. Surrounding the apse of the inside are many paintings, tall and skinny curved windows, and a large, triangular shaped organ that also runs along the left side of the chapel as well. In the main are there are many rows of church-styled seating as well as a second-floor gallery surrounding the ground level seating. The ceiling is lined with green panels with intricate wood-work in between, giving the interior a warm feel. Two chandeliers hang down from the center of the ceiling along with lights that file down the balcony which are the chapel’s main source of illumination. Schuyler further described Battell Chapel’s interior as “one of the most beautiful interiors to be found in the whole range of modern American church architecture.” (Brown, 10)flanked by two other High Victorian Gothic (Farnam hall and Durfee hall). Yale’s Old Campus currently houses the majority of first-year students and has two other buildings: Lindsay Chittenden hall (classrooms) and Dwight hall (former ancient book library) in addition to the chapel.

As Old Campus used to house all students until 1933, it made sense to place the chapel on the yard, as it gave students easy access to a church whenever they needed it. Now, the chapel still gives students regular access to practice religion, as it is fairly close to the center of campus.

Battell Chapel is a compact mass with a semi-circular projecting apse on College Street and twin towers on the west side. The towers at the west end of the chapel have tall, open stone-work lanterns and tall, ribbed conical roofs with finials and round turrets along their east sides. The walls are rusticated, and there are tall, slightly projecting transept arms near the east end. There is a one-story entrance porch with a pointed arch entrance facing Old Campus. In 1893, this side was altered with a gallery-high section that expanded the interior seating. The Elm Street side of the building still remains unaltered to this day.

Other entrances are slight gabled projections with pointed arch openings located on the north and south transepts, opposite to the Old Campus entrance on Elm Street. There is also a tall, square tower with paired, louvered vents and a pyramid roof at the south-east corner of the church on College Street. Each corner of the building is emphasized by buttresses and turrets as well.

On the face of the transept there is a large, gothic round window. A wall arcade with contrasting stone runs along the first level of the nave as well as around the apse on College Street; however, this feature was eventual removed to the face of the addition on the Old Campus side of the building. There is also a carved molding under the cornice with tall lancet windows made of leaded glass that mark the bays of the nave which was remolded in 1947 by Edward F. Euston.

o  Buildings and Grounds of Yale University, 1979, p. 10.

o  Brown, p. 124

o  Papers of Carroll L.V. Meeks, Yale University Library.

o  Historic Resources Inventory Buildings and Structures, p. 174.