Summary
Portland stone and granite mausoleum, 1909.
Reasons for Designation
The Jankovich mausoleum is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:
* Design: a substantial stone mausoleum in a sophisticated Egypto-Classical style;
* Setting: it is prominently located at the entrance to the Grade I registered Highgate Cemetery and has group value with the listed boundary walls, gate lodge, chapels, and colonnade.
History
Highgate Cemetery was the third of London's 'magnificent seven' burial grounds, a ring of suburban cemeteries established in the 1830s and 1840s to relieve pressure on overcrowded urban churchyards. It was the creation of the London Cemetery Company, a joint-stock company founded by the architect and engineer Stephen Geary and formally instituted by Act of Parliament in 1836. A seventeen-acre site on Highgate Hill was laid out as a picturesque garden cemetery with a network of serpentine drives, culminating in a monumental catacomb complex at the top of the hill. Geary himself supplied the initial plans, with assistance from the architect JB Bunning and from the landscape gardener David Ramsay. The cemetery, opened in 1839 and extended to the east of Swain's Lane in 1854, enjoyed great popularity and prestige during the second half of the C19 (famous occupants include George Eliot, Christina Rossetti and Karl Marx), but lack of money and maintenance led to a severe decline during the C20. Since 1975 it has been run on a charitable basis by the present Friends group.
Details
The monument takes the form of a square mausoleum in an Egyptianising Classical style with a pedimented roof and detached corner columns. Grey granite is used for the columns and for the plain frieze above. The main body of the structure is of channelled masonry, with pairs of flat pilasters framing each elevation. The entrance is a square-headed doorway with a battered surround containing ornamental wrought-iron gates; 'REQUIESCANT IN PACE' is inscribed over the lintel. The right-hand wall bears a marble plaque commemorating 'Flora, beloved wife of Major Lajos de Jankovich' (d.1909), along with her mother Theresia Schmidt (d.1914) and other members of the family.
Sources
Books and journals Other
Legal
This building is listed under the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 as amended for its special architectural or historic interest.
End of official list entry
