Mortuary Chapel at St Mary's Abbey
Listed on the National Heritage List for England. Search over 400,000 listed places
Overview
- Heritage Category:
- Listed Building
- Grade:
- II
- List Entry Number:
- 1431895
- Date first listed:
- 12-Feb-2016
- List Entry Name:
- Mortuary Chapel at St Mary's Abbey
Location
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Discover moreOfficial list entry
- Heritage Category:
- Listed Building
- Grade:
- II
- List Entry Number:
- 1431895
- Date first listed:
- 12-Feb-2016
- List Entry Name:
- Mortuary Chapel at St Mary's Abbey
- Location Description:
- Mortuary chapel approximately 30m north of St Mary's Abbey
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
The building or site itself may lie within the boundary of more than one authority.
- County:
- Staffordshire
- District:
- Stafford (District Authority)
- Parish:
- Colwich
- National Grid Reference:
- SK0083921430
Summary
A mortuary chapel thought to date from the mid-C19.
Reasons for Designation
The Mortuary Chapel at St Mary's Abbey is listed Grade II for the following principal reasons:
* Architectural interest: the chapel is an elegant design in the Gothic style;
* Historic interest: for its association with St Mary's Abbey;
* Group value: the chapel has good group value with St Mary's Abbey (Grade II).
History
The Benedictine movement at St Mary's Abbey (Grade II) first took over the site in 1835, when the Very Rev. Mother Mary Clare Knight bought the house then known as Mount Pavilion following the death of its previous owner, Robert Shirley, Viscount Tamworth. The house became known as St Benedict's Priory. It was raised to the rank of an abbey in 1928, when it took on its present name.
This mortuary chapel was built to serve the small burial ground associated with the Abbey, and is thought to date from the mid-C19.
Details
A mortuary chapel believed to date from the mid-C19.
MATERIALS AND PLAN: the chapel is roughly square on plan and it's entrance faces west. It is built of stone and brick with a slate roof.
EXTERIOR: the chapel is a small, gabled building which faces west over the burial ground. Its principal elevation has a central timber door in a pointed arch surround, with a moulded hoodmould and carved label stops. This is flanked by two-stage angle buttresses at the corners. Above the door is a window in the form of a Reuleaux triangle containing three trefoil openings, each with stained glass. There is an iron wall tie in the shape of a cross above this. The gable is capped with moulded coping stones with a carved cross at the apex.
In the brick side elevations there are single lancet openings in stone surrounds.
INTERIOR: not inspected (2015).
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 09-Jun-2026 at 16:30:09.
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.