Battell Chapel

Battell Chapel, which seats 850 people, is used today for many different religious services.  The University Church in Yale holds Sunday services there at 10:30 am, and the space has also been used for Muslim Iftar meals during Ramadan, Jewish high holidays, Buddhist programs, and monthly gatherings of Yale’s evangelical Christian groups.  The chapel is also used as a venue for concerts, lectures and other events from groups throughout Yale and the local community.

Due to the age of the building, Battell is not air conditioned and can get extremely hot during the summer.

♿Accessibility Information

Battell Chapel is situated on Yale’s old campus, and has entrances inside old campus itself and on College and Elm streets.  An accessible entrance with a ramp is on old campus, approachable via Phelps Gate (on College Street) or the High Street gate. An accessible bathroom is located in the Chapel on the main floor. If arriving by car, there is street parking on College, Elm and High streets.  Please note that High Street is currently scheduled to become pedestrian only later in 2025.

History and Architecture

Battell Chapel has a long history as a space for Yale’s Christian community, and is also used by other religious and community groups.  Named for Joseph Battell (1774 – 1841), a wealthy merchant and philanthropist, it was built between 1874 and 1876.  The architect, Russell Sturgis Jr., also designed the adjoining residence halls, Farnham and Durfee.  All three buildings are in the “High Victorian Gothic” architectural tradition.

Battell initially served as the home of the Church of Christ in Yale, with a central pulpit, but the interior has been renovated many times as the needs of the community have changed. Unusually for a congregational church of its era, the church was originally built with highly ornate interior decorations rather than a more traditional plain white.  Over time, subsequent renovations made the church interior significantly plainer, until a 1984 renovation that restored the chapel to its original Victorian colors and decoration.  Other changes have included removing front row pews to create more performance space, preventing the automated tolling of the church’s five bells every quarter of an hour after student complaints about noise in the 1960s, and a new organ (a Holtkamp Pipe organ) being installed in 1951. The chapel has two organs, the Ellen Battell Stoeckel Memorial and the Thorne Family Memorial, in the Transept and the Apse respectively.  Each can be played from consoles in either location.

Battell is famous for its stained glass windows, which commemorate many famous people from Yale history. Sturgis designed the Apse Memorial Windows, installed by Slack, Booth & Co of Orange, New Jersey in 1876.  The center window of the apse features the name of Elihu Yale, surrounded by the names of the first nine presidents of Yale college. Stained-glass windows flanking the nave commemorate benefactors and professors of Yale, many of whom were theologians, including Jonathan Edwards, Bishop George Berkeley, Nathaniel W. Taylor and many others.  A Tiffany window in the northwest upstairs corner was created in honor of Samuel Wells Williams, first professor of Chinese language in the United States.  A Maitland Armstrong window in the nave pictures the philosopher Seneca, given in honor of Professor Thomas Anthony Thacher, distinguished professor of Classics.

Battell’s Stained Glass

  • Stained glass showing a stone with Chinese characters on above an image of a turtle.
  • A close-up of a stained glass window showing the details on the face of a turtle.
  • A three panel stained glass window showing an icon of the lamb of God in the center
  • A wide shot of the stained glass one side of Battell Chapel, including the Rose Window above the organ.
  • The organ pipes and rose window in Battell Chapel.
  • A closeup of the rose window, displaying the Yale coat of arms in stained glass.
  • Stained glass windows in the dome of Battell, taken from below.
  • A paired set of stained glass windows honoring Theodore Woolsey and Benjamin Woolsey
  • Stained glass window showing the good shepherd.

Photos by Abigail Taylor ‘25