Lansdown Cemetery, Entrance Gates, Piers and Walls
LANSDOWN CEMETERY, ENTRANCE GATES, PIERS AND WALLS, LANSDOWN ROAD
Listed on the National Heritage List for England. Search over 400,000 listed places
Overview
- Heritage Category:
- Listed Building
- Grade:
- II*
- List Entry Number:
- 1394446
- Date first listed:
- 11-Aug-1972
- List Entry Name:
- Lansdown Cemetery, Entrance Gates, Piers and Walls
- Statutory Address:
- LANSDOWN CEMETERY, ENTRANCE GATES, PIERS AND WALLS, LANSDOWN ROAD
Location
Location of this list entry and nearby places that are also listed. Use our map search to find more listed places.
Use of this mapping is subject to terms and conditions .
This map is for quick reference purposes only and may not be to scale.
What is the National Heritage List for England?
The National Heritage List for England is a unique register of our country's most significant historic buildings and sites. The places on the list are protected by law and most are not open to the public.
The list includes:
 |
Buildings |
 |
Scheduled monuments |
 |
Parks and gardens |
 |
Battlefields |
 |
Shipwrecks |
Local Heritage Hub
Unlock and explore hidden histories, aerial photography, and listed buildings and places for every county, district, city and major town across England.
Discover moreOfficial list entry
- Heritage Category:
- Listed Building
- Grade:
- II*
- List Entry Number:
- 1394446
- Date first listed:
- 11-Aug-1972
- Date of most recent amendment:
- 15-Oct-2010
- List Entry Name:
- Lansdown Cemetery, Entrance Gates, Piers and Walls
- Statutory Address 1:
- LANSDOWN CEMETERY, ENTRANCE GATES, PIERS AND WALLS, LANSDOWN ROAD
The scope of legal protection for listed buildings
This List entry helps identify the building designated at this address for its special architectural or historic interest.
Unless the List entry states otherwise, it includes both the structure itself and any object or structure fixed to it (whether inside or outside) as well as any object or structure within the curtilage of the building.
For these purposes, to be included within the curtilage of the building, the object or structure must have formed part of the land since before 1st July 1948.
The scope of legal protection for listed buildings
This List entry helps identify the building designated at this address for its special architectural or historic interest.
Unless the List entry states otherwise, it includes both the structure itself and any object or structure fixed to it (whether inside or outside) as well as any object or structure within the curtilage of the building.
For these purposes, to be included within the curtilage of the building, the object or structure must have formed part of the land since before 1st July 1948.
Location
- Statutory Address:
- LANSDOWN CEMETERY, ENTRANCE GATES, PIERS AND WALLS, LANSDOWN ROAD
The building or site itself may lie within the boundary of more than one authority.
- District:
- Bath and North East Somerset (Unitary Authority)
- Parish:
- Non Civil Parish
- National Grid Reference:
- ST 73805 67553
Details
LANSDOWN ROAD (West side) Lansdown Cemetery, entrance gates, piers and walls 11/08/72
GV II*
Portico, gates, walls and railings to Lansdown cemetery.1848 by HE Goodridge. MATERIALS: Limestone ashlar, double Roman tile roof and cast iron railings. EXTERIOR: The main feature is the imposing Greek-style portico. It has a shallow-pitched forward-facing gable with a dentil and dogtooth cornice, clasping pilasters with similar cornices and Greek-cross finials to semicircular caps. A bellcote to the front of the ridge reflects the style. In the apex of the gable is a small cross in a circle over a wide semicircular arch with ornate mouldings and engaged colonnettes with scroll moulded capitals. The intrados has four bands of moulding; double nine-panel gates have six pierced cast iron panels to the top of each and fielded panels below. Flanking the arch are similar four-panel pedestrian gates. A rich frieze at impost level, approx 2.5m high, follows the contours of the pilasters and flanking walls for approx 6m to each side. The walls have stepped plinths and three circular panels below the frieze. Higher cruciform-plan terminal piers have caps formed of interlocking half-cylinders with fish-scale surfaces, all with decorative ends. Curving forward, on stepped granite plinths approx 1m high and 3m long, are cast iron arcaded railings more than 1m high with dentil cornices and fleur-de-lys spikes. Outer terminal piers to the railings are similar, lower and more elaborate. The plinth continues to five panels approx 5m long to each side with similar piers (probably formerly with railings), formerly part of Beckford's tomb at the Abbey cemetery (see below). HISTORY: These gates are among the most remarkable to adorn any early Victorian cemetery. They display a characteristically eclectic fusion of styles, and provide an interesting commentary on the development of Goodridge's art; Goodridge lies buried within. The outer piers and railings, also designed by Goodridge, originally formed the surround for William Beckford's tomb in Abbey Cemetery after his burial in 1844. They were moved to Lansdown when the Duchess of Hamilton (Beckford's daughter) presented the Tower (qv) and land to the Rector of Walcot to prevent them from becoming a beer-garden and so that her father could be buried here, in the spot he had desired to be laid to rest. The gate was restored by the Bath Preservation Trust in c2000. SOURCES: (The Buildings of England: Pevsner N: North Somerset and Bristol: London: 1958-: 216; James Lees-Milne, `William Beckford' (1976), 119; Jackson N: Nineteenth Century Bath - Architects and Architecture: Bath: 1991-: 215; Colvin H: A Biographical Dictionary of British Architects 1660-1840: London: 1978-: 352).
Listing NGR: ST7380567553
Legacy
The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.
- Legacy System number:
- 509846
- Legacy System:
- LBS
Legal
This building is listed under the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 as amended for its special architectural or historic interest.
Map
This map is for quick reference purposes only and may not be to scale. This copy shows the entry on 21-Jun-2026 at 06:14:04.
Download a full scale map (PDF)End of official list entry
All text content is available under the Open Government Licence v3.0 , except where otherwise stated. Any supplied maps are © Crown Copyright [and database rights] 2026 OS AC0000815036 and may not be reproduced without permission.