CHAPEL, a place of divine worship. The word is derived from the Latin capella. In former times, when the kings of France were engaged in war, they always carried St Martin's hat into the field, which was kept in a tent as a precious relic; and hence the place was called capella, and the priests who had the custody of the tent capellani. Afterwards the word capella came to be applied to private oratories.
In Britain there are several sorts of chapels. 1. Parochial chapels, which differ from parish churches only in name; they are generally small, and the inhabitants within the district few. If there be a presentation ad ecclesiam instead of capellam, and an admission and institution upon it, it is no longer a chapel, but a church. 2. Chapels which adjoin to and form part of the church. These were formerly built by honourable persons, as burying-places for themselves and their families. 3. Chapels of ease, which are usually built in very large parishes, where all the people cannot conveniently repair to the mother or parochial church. 4. Free chapels, such as were founded by kings of England. They are free from all episcopal jurisdiction, and only to be visited by the founder and his successors, which is done by the lord chancellor; yet the king may license any subject to build and endow a chapel, and by letters patent exempt it from the visitation of the ordinary. 5. Chapels in the universities, belonging to particular colleges. 6. Domestic chapels, built by noblemen or gentlemen for the private service of God in their families.