Anglican, Nonconformist and Mortuary Chapels at Great Malvern Cemetery

A pair of chapels built between 1861 and 1863 by WH Knight for the Great Malvern Burial Board, with a central connecting tower probably added by H Haddon in 1873 to 1874, and an adjacent Mortuary chapel designed by AC Baker and completed in 1887.

The chapels are constructed of random stone with ashlar dressings beneath tile roofs. The central tower is of coursed stone with ashlar dressings and a stone spire.

The two main chapels are positioned side by side, with the Anglican chapel situated slightly further south than the Nonconformist chapel. Both are orientated roughly north to south. The central tower connects them and stands open at its base on three sides. The Mortuary chapel, orientated east to west, is located approximately 5 metres north of the Anglican chapel. The original approach was from the main entrance to the south, though the modern entrance is now from the north.

The Anglican and Nonconformist chapels are distinguished by their Decorated Gothic style, characterised by steep gables and tall, sloping roofs beneath the central tower which rises prominently above them. Both feature high plinths, continuous sill bands, buttresses and pointed arch windows set beneath hoodmoulds with ornately-carved label stops.

The Anglican chapel's south elevation displays a tall three-light window with curvilinear tracery, above which sits a small oculus with three mouchettes and a stone cross crowning the gable. A short corridor containing the main entrance sits to the west beneath the tower. The south side of this corridor contains three two-light windows with trefoil heads and small trefoil openings above. The exit door is housed in a small projecting porch to the east, flanked by two windows to the north and topped by three dormers with traceried windows. The north elevation features a central two-light window and a quatrefoil opening above. Between the two chapels stands a further dormer window above a two-light window, with a projecting polygonal vestry at the rear of the connecting corridor, which has trefoil-headed windows in each plane.

The connecting tower comprises three stages with a tall broach spire above and diagonal buttresses at each corner. It is open on its north, south and east sides. The second stage contains square openings above the ground floor arches, while the third stage features two-light belfry openings with reticulated tracery and pierced stone panels. Tall, slender lucarnes pierce the base of the spire above.

The Nonconformist chapel's south elevation displays a large three-light window with intersecting tracery flanked by buttresses, a Reuleaux triangle above and a carved stone cross at the apex of the gable. The entrance door on the east elevation sits beneath a deep porch with a tall hood supported on thick stone buttresses and carved corbels, flanked to the south by a single lancet window and to the north by a pair of lancets. The north elevation features a large two-light window with an oculus above, whilst the west elevation contains a further pair of lancets and a projecting gable for the vestry within.

The Mortuary chapel is a single-cell building with a gabled roof, following a similar design to the main chapels with diagonal buttresses at each corner and two-light traceried windows in each gable. It is entered through a pointed arch door in moulded surround on its north side, with two louvered ventilation openings in each roof plane.

Internally, the Anglican chapel's entrance opens onto a short corridor with a tall roof supported on carved corbels. An ornate ogee door surround provides access to the vestry, which retains its original fireplace and water closet with decorated ceramic bowl. The main chapel space features a high roof with thick timbers supported on moulded hammer beams and carved corbels. The floor is parquet, with free-standing seating and what appears to be an original altar.

The Nonconformist chapel retains its flagstone floor and a roof supported on carved corbels but is currently used for storage with a freestanding mezzanine structure inserted.

The Mortuary chapel has a quarry tile floor and a simple timber roof. It retains an original fireplace and what appear to be original gas lamps.