This week has been Faith and Spirituality Week at the College—a fitting moment to pause, reflect, and listen again to some of the voices that have shaped our shared history.
To mark the occasion, we have taken a deep dive into the College’s rich collection of Chapel and Choir records, uncovering moments of worship, music and community that will be familiar to many of our Old Brightonians.
Over the past few months, our fantastic volunteers has been carefully cataloguing this collection. Thanks to their dedication, we now have a much clearer picture of what the Chapel archive holds—from photographs and orders of service, to records that chart the evolving role of faith and music at the College. This work has also allowed us to begin digitising the collection, ensuring these materials are preserved for the future and made accessible to a wider audience.
We are excited to share that, in the near future, scans of the Chapel photographs and orders of service that you will see in the carousel below will be uploaded to the digital archive, allowing our community to browse, reminisce, and perhaps even spot a familiar face from their own time at the College.
One particularly evocative item from the archive is this photograph from 1965, showing the Brighton College Glee Club recording the Epilogue for a Southern Television series called School Song. A section of the Choir was invited to the Southern Television Studios in Southampton, where each programme took the form of a reflective epilogue—the theme on this occasion being humility.
The College Chaplain, the Reverend Bill Peters (CR. 1950-69), who led the service, can be seen standing on the right, while Jack Hindmarsh, Director of Music (1962-66), conducts on the left. This recording formed part of a broader festival of music, art, film and literary activities organised at the time by Gavin Henderson (Le. 1960–65), who would later go on to become Artistic Director of the Brighton Festival.
As our work continues, we are always keen to strengthen and complete the archive. So, if members of our community have old Chapel records, photographs or orders of service that they no longer need, we would be delighted to hear from you. There are still gaps in the collection, and every contribution helps to build a fuller picture of the College’s spiritual and musical heritage.
The Chapel has long been a place of gathering, reflection and song, and through these records, we are rediscovering not just documents and photographs, but the shared experiences that continue to connect generations of Brighton College alumni.
Browse a selection from the archive gallery below:
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Whether it is a photo, uniform, diary, or program from a school play, every piece of history speaks to our shared journey. The Brighton College Archive contains hundreds of fascinating primary sources and we actively encourage interested OBs to get in touch and arrange a tour.
If you have any historic artefacts, documents, or memories from your College days that you would be willing to share with us, please contact our College Archivist, Mr James Harrison.