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Past Christian attraction?

Just found an old data CD I had (been hunting for Towers piccies!) and came across this. Now, I have no idea whether I took this, or whether I've had it saved from a website, so I won't assume ownership! Image metadata states this was taken in 2003:

crux.jpg
 
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So, it's a Christian Art Gallery?

It reminds me of the Louvre...

It would've been interesting to visit, even though I'm not the most faithful person in the world.
I wonder what they had in there!
 
A very old thread I know, but seeing on TikTok today that the chapel has reopened got me immediately thinking back to Crux. This forum is the only place on the internet that seems to remember it.

It was a temporary (although there for two years) interactive Christian attraction in the chapel. That’s all I remember.

Does anyone have any more information on this very short lived attraction? Or any photos? I believe it’s the only “attraction” that has ever actually operated inside the chapel. Does anyone know if it was owned by Alton Towers? Or an outside company? I think I went in once and remember being rather confused by it.
 
It was done by a small weird religious group, they had a few such youth/god places worldwide.
Nice place for a bit of a rest.
 
Oh, how odd. I could have sworn I'd added some info on The Crux to the site before, but now can't find it. I'm going to chalk that up on the list of things I've researched but never published. I'll dig some more bits out and pop them up in the next few days.

But one thing I can share off the top off my head, is that it wasn't the first such exhibit, it followed an attraction called Starchaser, which was installed in the chapel in 2000-2001, which had a similar Christian vibe but was aimed more at adults, whilst The Crux was aimed at 'the youth'.
Enter Valhalla said:
I believe it’s the only “attraction” that has ever actually operated inside the chapel.
Click to expand...
The only other permanent attraction I'm aware of that operated in the chapel was the Model Railway, which was in there from the 1950s until the 1990s when part of the roof collapsed, and the Railway was removed during the renovation.

You sometimes hear it said that the Model Railway operated in the 'vault' of the chapel, but in reality it was just the chapel as we know it now with a low false roof, which hid the architecture above it. If you go into the Chapel today, you'll notice that the outer parts of the floor are painted green, this was the floor of the viewing area for the Model Railway. The bare section of floor in the middle is where there plinth that the Model Railway operated on once stood.
 
Squiggs said:
Oh, how odd. I could have sworn I'd added some info on The Crux to the site before, but now can't find it. I'm going to chalk that up on the list of things I've researched but never published. I'll dig some more bits out and pop them up in the next few days.

But one thing I can share off the top off my head, is that it wasn't the first such exhibit, it followed an attraction called Starchaser, which was installed in the chapel in 2000-2001, which had a similar Christian vibe but was aimed more at adults, whilst The Crux was aimed at 'the youth'.

The only other permanent attraction I'm aware of that operated in the chapel was the Model Railway, which was in there from the 1950s until the 1990s when part of the roof collapsed, and the Railway was removed during the renovation.

You sometimes hear it said that the Model Railway operated in the 'vault' of the chapel, but in reality it was just the chapel as we know it now with a low false roof, which hid the architecture above it. If you go into the Chapel today, you'll notice that the outer parts of the floor are painted green, this was the floor of the viewing area for the Model Railway. The bare section of floor in the middle is where there plinth that the Model Railway operated on once stood.
Click to expand...

And the little booth as you enter the chapel on the left is where you used to pay for entry to the model railway.
 
I do remember going into Crux, drawn in by the open door with photos plastered over it (of what I can't recall), but what I remember doesn't seem to have been mentioned so far in this topic so I could be misremembering whether it was part of Crux or another installation.

I remember a mirrored bowl on a plinth in the centre of the chapel, probably about 50cm in diameter, which was either there as a creative way of looking at the ceiling or it was there as some sort of optical illusion maybe that flipped the ceiling.

Either way, I remember looking at it for a minute then carrying on with my day. Don't remember anything else in there.
 
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