On July 21, 1869, the Chapel was formally opened by the Archbishop of Canterbury. The impetus for building it had come from Sir Stafford Northcote at the 1867 Speech Day, the funding had come from Sir Henry Peek, and the design was by Henry Woodyer, the architect of the original School buildings.  The original programme from this day survives and was reproduced in the order of service for the 150th celebrations in September 2015.

A special train brought guests to Cranleigh station from where, on a hot summer’s day, they walked up the hill to the new Chapel. About 40 of the clergy from the diocese also attended, including the archdeacons of Surrey and Winchester.  After a long service, a collection raised £107 (the equivalent of almost four boys’ annual fees) and then lunch for about 400 guests was held in the newly built Hall.  At 6pm the first of tens of thousands of ordinary services was held for the boys.  Hymns were sung unaccompanied – it was to be another two years before the first organ was installed.