The chapel at Plymouth College Preparatory School has been re-dedicated to St Dunstan in a special service led by Rev Nick McKinnel.
Built in 1883 as part of the Royal Naval Hospital, the chapel was previously The Chapel of the Good Shepherd. When the hospital closed in 1995, the eastern end of the site became St Dunstan’s Abbey School for Girls. The school merged with Plymouth College in 2005 and is now home to Plymouth College Preparatory School.
“We decided to re-dedicate the chapel to St Dunstan to reflect the fine traditions of the school”, said Headmaster, Chris Gatherer. “The children already mark St Dunstan’s Day (19th May) with stories and traditional games and we thought this was another great way to celebrate the occasion.
“We will also be putting a horseshoe up in the school. One of the many stories about St Dunstan is that he nailed a horseshoe to the Devil's hoof when he was asked to re-shoe the Devil's horse. This caused the Devil great pain, and St Dunstan only agreed to remove the shoe and release the Devil after he promised never to enter a place where a horseshoe is over the door. This is claimed as the origin of the lucky horseshoe.”
The service was attended by the whole school, staff, governors and a number of former pupils.
Photograph: Current and former pupils are pictured with:Far left L to R Mrs Jan McKinnel (Deputy Chair Prep School Governors), David Woodgate (Chair Prep School Governors)
Far right L to R Chris Robinson (Chair Plymouth College Governors), Chris Gatherer (Prep School Headmaster)
