About the Chapel

A LIVING MEMORIAL…

The Falkland Islands Memorial Chapel at Pangbourne College has been built to commemorate the lives and sacrifice of all those who died in the South Atlantic in 1982 – to stand as a permanent and ‘living’ memorial to remember them – and the courage of the thousands of Servicemen and women who served with them to protect the sovereignty of the Falkland Islands.

AN ARCHITECT’S VISION OF PEACE

The Memorial Chapel – which cost a total of £2.3 million and was opened in March 2000 by Her Majesty The Queen – seats 580 within the ground floor area and gallery; its design which came about as a result of a nation-wide competition won by Crispin Wride Architectural Design Studio, is reminiscent of the shape of a ship – almond or ‘mandorla’ shaped – denoting hands ‘cupped’ in prayer. Natural light flows down the pale coloured inside walls from clear glass surrounding the curved roof and diffused through its focal feature at the north end – a memorial window with stained glass depicting the Falkland Islands within Christ’s Cross surrounded by a lively sea in vibrant shades of blue, green, yellow and grey – designed by John Clark, who also created the Lockerbie memorial window.

Her Majesty The Queen meeting the sculptor, Major Mark Coreth, following the
installation of his three bronze albatrosses beside the Chapel in 2007.