Hearse House in Churchyard of Church of St Mary is a Grade II listed building in the Bury local planning authority area, England. First listed on 21 February 2012. Hearser house.

Hearse House in Churchyard of Church of St Mary

WRENN ID
fading-baluster-tallow
Grade
II
Local Planning Authority
Bury
Constituency
Bury South MP: Christian Wakeford (Lab)
Country
England
Date first listed
21 February 2012
Type
Hearser house
Address
Hearse House in Churchyard of Church of St Mary, Church Lane, Prestwich, Greater Manchester
OS grid reference
SD 811 037
Coordinates
53.52971, -2.28638
Source
Historic England listing

Also on this page: flood risk · radon risk · weather exposure · detailed attributes ↓

Description

The hearse house, dating from the 17th century, is located in the north-east corner of the churchyard of St Mary's Church. It is constructed of brick with ashlar dressings and features a slate roof. The exterior includes slender, nearly full-height gabled piers on the south and east elevations, along with gabled kneelers on the eastern gable end. The pitched roof of the rear half of the building has been replaced with a flat roof. The east gable end has an off-centre doorway with a shallow-arched head and an ashlar lintel, leading to a panelled door that has a modern metal covering. An identical doorway and door on the west end have been sealed off but are visible from the inside. A later narrow doorway has been inserted into the south elevation of the rear section. There is a mid to late 20th-century single-storey, flat-roofed toilet block extension attached to the west end of the hearse house, which has doorways and small windows on the south and west elevations, but this extension is not of special interest.

Inside, the hearse house is now used as a store and is divided into two sections, front and rear, both featuring whitewashed walls and stone sett floors. The front section contains an original timber ledger cupboard fixed to one wall, an enclosed brick corner stove, and a chimney breast. A stone crest from 1668, belonging to Edward Kenyon, is built into the north wall and originated from his monument in St Mary's Church. The interior also includes an incised, late medieval stone tomb slab depicting a floriated cross and shears, along with wall-mounted hooks in the rear section.

Local climate

Hearse House in Churchyard of Church of St Mary sits in a wetter-than-average part of the UK, with an average of 1,060 mm of rain a year. This makes it wetter than 85% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is greater than that of 77% of listed buildings.

It experiences an average of 43 freeze-thaw cycles a year, more than 81% of listed buildings. Of these, 23 follow at least 1 mm of rain in the preceding 48 hours. Average temperatures at this location have risen by 0.3°C per decade since 1991.

Averages for 1991–2020; temperature trend 1991–2025. Figures describe the wider area (a grid cell of roughly 10 km), not the individual site. Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026.

More on this building

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Nearby listed buildings

  1. Mounting Block by Path Way from East Entrance to Churchyard of Church of St Mary Grade II 16 m
  2. War Memorial, St Mary's Churchyard Grade II 18 m
  3. Church Inn Grade II 18 m
  4. Ramsbotham Family Grave Slab in Churchyard of Church of St Mary Grade II 26 m
  5. 38, Church Lane Grade II 27 m
  6. Church of St Mary Grade I 35 m
  7. Grave Slab of James Lancashire in Churchyard of Church of St Mary Grade II 41 m
  8. Grave Slab of Mary Lancashire in Churchyard of Church of St Mary Grade II 42 m
  9. Sundial in Rectory Grounds Grade II 43 m
  10. Tomb of Children of Thomas Collier, Close to South East Corner of Church of St Mary Grade II 45 m