Allen Memorial in Southampton Cemetery

Reasons for Designation

REASONS FOR DESIGNATION DECISION The Allen Mausoleum in Southampton Old Cemetery has been designated for the following principal reasons: * The mausoleum is a well executed example of Neo-classical design, a type of monument which is unusual for this cemetery. * The quality of the carving and inscriptions are very good.

Details

983/0/10071 HILL LANE 27-JUN-08 Allen Memorial in Southampton Cemetery

II Neo-classical mausoleum dating to about 1900 built of Portland stone ashlar blocks.

DESCRIPTION: This mausoleum has a pedimented front in antis with a cross of St John in the tympanum, below which is a plain cornice and an inscribed frieze which is supported by two Ionic columns on raised bases. The doorway is round arched into which is set a carved head which has unfortunately weathered so that the features are not discernible. On either side of the head are spandrels depicting two angels one with a trumpet the other displaying the crown of life. The door itself is of crude wooden planks. The south, rear side of the mausoleum has a blind round arched window with window ledge below. Along the lower edge of the east and west sides of the mausoleum is a band decoration of alternate cross and fleur-de-lis.

The biblical quotation on the frieze is to Jesus being 'The Resurrection and the Life'. On the sides of the mausoleum are a number of plaques; on the west there is one inscribed to the memory of Araline Emma Allen and one blank. On the east are two inscribed plaques, one to Araline Nicholas and the other to William Richard Nicholas.The quality of lettering on the frieze and plaques is good.

HISTORY: Southampton Old Cemetery is one of the earliest municipal cemeteries in England. The land for the cemetery was acquired from Southampton Common in 1843 under an Act of Parliament which gave the Corporation control of 15 acres. The Town Council approached the landscape gardener, John Claudius Loudon whose work included the cemetery at Histon in Cambridgeshire and Bath Abbey; but his design was rejected. Instead the Town Council organised a competition which was won by William Rogers, a local nurseryman. The cemetery opened in May 1846 as a ten acre site and was extended by a further five acres in 1863. A third extension in the early 1880s brought the cemetery to its present extent of 27 acres, and featured an avenue of yew trees. The cemetery was provided with three chapels; a Church of England mortuary chapel (now Grade II, but used as a design studio), a Jewish mortuary chapel (Grade II, now a privately owned house) and a Nonconformist mortuary chapel (Grade II now used as a charity storage area).

In addition to the chapels, there are several other listed buildings in the cemetery: The Lodge, possibly by J and J Francis, dated 1848-1882 (Grade II); the main gates and gate piers, about 1880 (Grade II); the gate piers at the north western and the eastern gates (both sets Grade II); walls to the east side of the cemetery fronting Hill Lane, mid-C19 (Grade II); and, within the cemetery, the Pearce Memorial, 1861 by the sculptor Richard Cockle Lucas (Grade II). There are estimated to be approximately 116,800 burials in the cemetery.

The Allen Mausoleum, which lies close to the Grade II Pearce Memorial in the south west side of the cemetery, was sculpted and erected about 1900. Nothing is known of the history of the Allen family, nor is the identity of the mausoleum's designer currently known.

REASONS FOR DESIGNATION RECOMMENDATION: * The mausoleum is a well executed example of Neo-classical design, a type of monument which is unusual for this cemetery. * The quality of the carving and inscriptions are very good.

Legacy

The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.

Legacy System number:

504870

Legacy System:

LBS

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