Spencer's Holy Box

Today we've visited The Memorial Chapel at Sandham.  Unfortunately you are not allowed to take pictures inside the chapel which is a bit of a shame as its a fairly unprepossessing building from the outside.

Inside however, is a completely different thing.  The chapel was conceived of and built specifically to house 17 paintings by Stanley Spencer which act as a memorial to his experience in the First World War, both as a hospital orderly in Bristol and subsequently as a private in the Royal Medial Corps in Macedonia, a long forgotten part of the First World War.

Spencer was strongly, if unconventionally Christian and referred to the chapel as his "Holy Box", although the architect and Spencer's patrons referred to it as Spencer's "God Box".  

I've been a fan of Spencer's work since I was first introduced to his 1914 Self Portrait by my art teacher back when I was studying for O level Art in the mid 1970s.  This trip has been on my list of things to do for many years, but finally today we got to visit.