Chantry Chapel And Mausoleum

A private Roman Catholic chapel and mausoleum, built around 1850 for the Petre family. It is located in woodland approximately 392 metres southwest of Thorndon Hall. The design is by WW Wardell. The building is constructed from ragstone with oolitic freestone dressings and a red clay tiled roof, and is executed in a Gothic decorated style. The plan is an L-shape, comprising a three-bayed chapel with a vestry and bellcote on the south side.

The exterior features a low band of grouped mouldings and a cornice containing an inscription interspersed with leaf decoration, repeated under the eaves. The north elevation has three bays defined by buttresses, with two-light windows featuring head-stopped hood moulds and curvilinear tracery. The west bay contains a gabled doorway and a nodding gabled niche with a statue of the Virgin and Child, with a gabled stoup below, enriched by angel stops. Gargoyle terminals in the form of dragons are present at the gable ends. The south elevation features, to the west, a window similar to those on the north side, and to the east, a projecting gabled vestry with an end stack surmounted by a moulded octagonal shaft, displaying the Petre and Clifford arms as a quatrefoiled roundel. A bellcote is set into the angle; it consists of a stair tower with an iron-grilled lancet window, two lower square vents and an octagonal belfry lantern. The lantern has decorative eaves cornices with gabled lancet openings, buttresses, leafy decoration, and a stone pyramidal roof. The west elevation is characterised by angle buttressed corners and a tall three-light window with curvilinear tracery. A two-centred arched doorway is located below, set within a rectangular surround, with relief carvings of the Resurrection and Christ with Mary and the Apostles in heaven set into the spandrels. The doorway arch is composed of two orders of columns and arch mouldings with leaf decoration. The door itself is two-leaved with iron strap hinges. The east elevation has a central, three-light window with curvilinear tracery and a decorative moulding below the sill. The vestry on the south side has a rectangular window filled with intersecting cusped lancet tracery. Stained glass is by Hardman & Co.

The interior is secured against vandalism and was not inspected during the listing process. Historic photographs taken prior to closure reveal an ornate gilded and painted interior featuring a highly decorated angel roof. Initially attributed to AW Pugin, the building is now recognised as the work of WW Wardell.