Anglican and Non-conformist Chapels at Tewkesbury Cemetery

Reasons for Designation

The group of two chapels and linking porte-cochere at Tewkesbury Cemetery are designated in Grade II, for the following principal reasons: * The chapels have clear architectural quality, and show an accomplished design by a recognised architect, James Medland, who created other listed cemetery chapels and cemetery landscapes in the area * The buildings survive substantially intact and largely unaltered since their completion in the 1850s * The chapel grouping is intimately connected with its setting, playing a pivotal role in the landscape design of the cemetery which is included on the Register of Parks and Gardens at Grade II.

Details

TEWKESBURY

859-1/0/10002 GLOUCESTER ROAD 24-FEB-10 Anglican and Non-Conformist Chapels at Tewkesbury Cemetery

II The linked chapels at Tewkesbury Cemetery were built in 1856 to designs by Gloucester architect James Medland. They are sited within the cemetery which is on Gloucester Road.

MATERIALS: The building is constructed of ashlar and snecked stone from Westmancote Hill, with Murrell Down stone used for the window tracery. The roofs are covered with Staffordshire tiles laid alternately as plain red and blue fish-scale bands. Internally, the floor of the Anglican chapel has modern tiles, and the roofs of both chapels are constructed of English oak.

PLAN: Each chapel is a built on a single-cell rectangular plan, with attached porches. The porte-cochere between the chapels is also rectangular, and narrower than the adjoining chapels.

EXTERIOR: The western elevation consists of three gables, one to each chapel and a central one to the porte-cochere between them. Each chapel gable contains a large, three-light window with flowing rectilinear tracery and hood mould above. At the apex of each is a small trefoil opening, and the Nonconformist chapel gable is surmounted by a small cross finial. The Anglican chapel is missing its corresponding finial. At each end of the elevation are angle buttresses, which die into the corners by an offset. At either side of the central porte-cochere are stepped buttresses. These are topped by crocketed pinnacles with a gablet on each face. The pointed-arched opening to the porte-cochere is moulded, with an attached column with foliate capitals, and a drip mould with head stops. At the apex of the porte-cochere gable is a bellcote supported by four piers, the westernmost of which sits atop a corbel with a carved angel. The bellcote is topped by an octagonal spirelet with crockets and a cross finial. The north and south elevations have matching gabled porches with small angle buttresses, and these are flanked on each side by two-light pointed-arched windows. The east elevation consists of the rear gables of each chapel, each with angle buttresses, and the rear gable of the porte-cochere, which is slightly set back from the chapel elevations. The tracery of the east window in the Anglican chapel matches that of the west window of the Nonconformist chapel, and vice versa. A projecting plinth with chamfered top girds the chapels. Adjacent to the north wall of the Anglican chapel are two stone coffins which were removed from the neighbouring land known as the Vineyards at an unknown date.

INTERIOR: The interior of the Anglican chapel is a single-cell space with a modern tiled floor. The original pews and lectern survive, as does the decorative metalwork on the doors. The roof retains some of its original timbers. The Nonconformist chapel has been adapted for use as a store but retains its original roof and a decorative cast iron fireplace. Each chapel has plain glass, and both chapels have scissor-braced roof trusses.

SOURCES: Verey, D and Brooks, A, Gloucestershire 2: The Vale and The Forest of Dean (2002), 731-2 Tewkesbury Historical Society, A History of Tewkesbury Municipal Cemetery (unpublished, 2009)

HISTORY: In response to the burial crises of the 1830s and 40s, the Burial Board Acts of the 1850s were passed, enabling parish councils to open municipal cemeteries. Many towns and cities in England began to open, at an increasing rate, new cemeteries which were separate from traditional burial grounds, away from established places of worship. Tewkesbury Burial Board was set up in 1854, with the cemetery being laid out in 1856 and opened in 1857. At the centre of the cemetery are two chapels linked by a porte-cochere which were designed by the architect James Medland of Gloucester, who had designed the landscape layout for the cemetery with his partner Alfred Maberley. As was common practice for new cemeteries, one of the cemetery chapels was consecrated for Anglican worship, while the other was unconsecrated for Nonconformist worship. Both chapels remained in use until the later C20, when the Nonconformist chapel was taken out of use. It is now used as a store, while the Anglican chapel remained in use at the time of inspection (2009).

REASONS FOR DESIGNATION: The group of two chapels and linking porte-cochere at Tewkesbury Cemetery are designated at Grade II, for the following principal reasons: * The chapels have clear architectural quality, and show an accomplished design by a recognised architect, James Medland, who created other listed cemetery chapels in the area * The buildings survive substantially intact and largely unaltered since their completion in the 1850s * The chapel grouping is intimately connected with its setting, playing a pivotal role in the landscape design of the cemetery

SO8912732001

Legacy

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

Legacy System number:

507349

Legacy System:

LBS

Sources

Books and journals
Verey, D, The Buildings of England: Gloucestershire 2 The Vale and The Forest of Dean, (1970), 731-732

End of official list entry

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