The Oratory of St Agnes is a chapel within the grounds of St Tibb's High School, and was once the place of worship for the Marringdon family who lived at Marringdon Hall before the estate was sold off and became an all-girls school. Marringdon Hall and the Oratory of St Agnes are the only two buildings still remaining from the original 1850 purchase of the grounds---except for the perimeter walls and front gate, of course. The Hall was used as the main academic and residential building, being cheaper to repurpose it than to demolish and build a completely new structure in its place, and the Oratory was left standing because of the long lineage of Marringdons interred in its crypt. (The Marringdons of Mettleham go back a long way and are mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086.) When St Tibb's was still a relatively small school, most of the student population would fit in the chapel, and indeed each Sunday compulsory attendance at morning and evening services was expected of all students. As the school grew, however, this became increasingly impractical, and now the chapel is only used for special occasions (e.g., the Feast of St Agnes on January 21st, major dates on the Christian calendar, and so on), attended on a voluntary basis. But even then, it is not large enough to house the entire student population, so only a limited number of students wishing to attend are allowed to each service held there. On a related note, it should be pointed out that St Tibb's no longer expects its students to be Church Of England nor to attend all services, both of which were compulsory requirements when the school was a boarding institution. These days, with a much wider cultural environment to be found in the UK, neither condition is mandatory but the school does still follow the secular ethics to be found in the teachings of the Anglican faith, and expects all of its girls to do so, too. A local Church Of England parish has responsiblity for maintaining the chapel building and for supplying the school with a chaplain, who is available to any St Tibb's student for confidential counselling and guidance. Any student may put her name on the list of those hoping to attend an upcoming service held at the Oratory or to ask for an appointment to meet with the chaplain, regardless of her religious background. (Note: If a student does not wish to seek advice from the chaplain, which may be skewed towards the tenets of the Anglican faith, she can always book a similar meeting and discussion with her form master/mistress, who will be 100% secular in the advice and guidance given.) These days, the chapel is completely off-limits to students from Years 7 to 11, except for those chosen to attend special services, but it is open during regular school hours for sixth-formers (Years 12 and 13) to come in and pray, meditate, or simply chill away from the stresses of their studies. In this picture we see the northern half of the nave, with Gaynor O'Keith and Amelia Jobson (both of Year 13) visiting the chapel as they take a break from studying. (Posed and rendered in PoserPro 11, uniforms created in Marvelous Designer 9.5, postwork in PSP 2022.)