About the chapel

Christ's Chapel was consecrated in 1616 by George Abbot, Archbishop of Canterbury, as part of the Dulwich College foundation. The Elizabethan actor Edward Alleyn built his College of God's Gift (comprising chapel, school and almshouses) on Dulwich Green as an act of thanksgiving to God for his talents as an actor and his ability in business. Since then it has been in use continually as a spiritual focus for the almshouses and three Dulwich Schools of the Foundation: Dulwich College, James Allen's Girls' School and Alleyn's School.

By Alleyn's specific provision it has also been available as a place of worship for the inhabitants of Dulwich village. This was important when Dulwich was a far-flung outpost of the Parish of Camberwell. The establishment in 1894 of the Parish of St. Barnabas, Dulwich made possible a closer association between the Chapel and the wider Church. This was further consolidated in 1857 when the Vicar of St Barnabas was also licensed as Foundation Chaplain of Alleyn's College of God's Gift.