Then and Now – The Migrating Iron Gates

The entrances to St. Nicholas Chapel in the main sanctuary were originally gated with a wrought iron fence with brass adornments and a gate. This fence has migrated over time from place to place in the sanctuary.

The original gates covered the two arched entrances to the St. Nicholas Chapel. You can just see them in the upper right-hand of the picture on the left (from the 1950’s). The picture on the right shows the entrances today…without the gates! *The gates were in keeping with the very traditional Anglo-Gothic design of the church.*

In the early 1990’s, the altar was moved from the rear of the Chancel forward to bottom of the stairs. The gates were moved to span the opening at the top of the stairs to the area that used to contain the main altar and the choir pews. *This was likely to create a more natural break to what was now a large, empty space.*

When the sanctuary was remodeled in 1994, the chancel was lowered, the stairs were removed and the gates migrated back to the St. Nicholas Chapel. In the later 1990’s, the church needed to use the St. Nicholas Chapel for seating, and so the gates were removed once again. WIthout an obvious landing spot, they have sadly remained stored in the old narthex.

The gates really shouldn’t be covering up the stained glass windows, but they are too special to discard! If you have an idea of how we could incorporate them someplace in the sanctuary, let Father Matt know! It’s about time for them to migrate to a new location.