Chapel And Crematorium, Dukinfield Cemetery

The Chapel and Crematorium at Dukinfield Cemetery is a Grade II listed building, originally constructed in 1865 by the architects Paull and Aycliffe from Manchester. This complex, designed in an 'L' shape, features a chapel aligned east-west with the crematorium extending southward from the east end. The structure is built of coursed squared gritstone, accented with ashlar dressings and wall banding, and topped with a Welsh slate roof and crested red clay ridge tiles.

The entrance front faces north, showcasing a steeply-pitched gable for the former non-conformist chapel on the left, while the four-bay Anglican chapel is set back. At the junction of these two sections stands a square tower with an octagonal turret and spire. The former chapel gable is adorned with a four-light pointed arched window featuring a multifoil traceried head. The two-stage tower has tall coupled lancets on the second stage, pilaster buttresses, a stylized corbel table, and a stiff leaf cornice. Above, steep pyramidal pinnacles rest on low shafts, with an octagonal turret at the top and an ashlar spire that includes blind lucarnes. There is also a low octagonal turret with a spire at the northeast corner of the tower.

To the right, there is a gabled single-storey entrance porch to the chapel, which features a wide double chamfered arch. The west gable of the chapel has a tall five-light window with a multifoil traceried head. The rear wall includes three two-light windows with quatrefoil heads and a single light opening with a trefoil head. The former chapel has an advanced polygonal apsidal end with a multifoil circular light on each facet, and a catslide roofed extension that is punctuated by gables of varying sizes.

Inside the chapel, there is a scissor-braced roof and a low three-bay arcade separating the nave from the north aisle, supported by short red marble columns with crocket capitals. The chapels are a central feature of the cemetery's design and hold group value with the cemetery office located to the west.