Mausoleum of Sir David Yule

Mausoleum of Sir David Yule, made in 1929 to the designs of Philip Lindsey-Clark.

MATERIALS: Bianco el Mare marble and red clay plain tiles. Wrought-iron fence and gates.

PLAN: the mausoleum is rectangular on plan. It is located in a fenced enclosure in a small pine copse containing a burial ground, to the east of the formal garden.

EXTERIOR: the mausoleum is in the form of an open stone canopy under a hipped roof with sprocketed eaves and bonnet tiles. The square openings on each side of the canopy have quarter round hollow mouldings and slender attached shafts. Underneath is a low, moulded plinth over which a carved rug is laid, and upon this rests an elaborately carved stone desk and chair. The top of the desk is treated as a classical entablature with a dentilled cornice that rests on a panelled support, flanked by consoles enriched with acanthus leaves. Some books and papers are laid on the desk and a carved wreath rests against it on the south-east side. The X-shaped, Empire-style chair is embellished with scrolled arm rests and a floral motif at the intersection of the supports. The desk and chair are partly covered by a sumptuous carved drapery.

On the north-east and south-west sides of the plinth are long, narrow, carved panels containing reliefs illustrating scenes from David Yule’s life in India. They are a little weathered, but appear to depict a panorama of Calcutta, a jute plantation and two mills, said to be the Budge-Budge and the Delta Mills, both owned by Andrew Yule & Co. in Bengal. The south-east side of the plinth, just below the wreath, is engraved with ‘SIR DAVID YULE BT BORN 1858 DIED 1928’. The north-west side is engraved with the following quotation from ‘England’s Answer’ by Rudyard Kipling: ‘Go to your work and be strong/ Halting not in your ways/ Baulking the end half won/ For an instant dole of praise/ Stand to your work and be wise/ Certain of sword and pen/ Who are neither children nor gods/ But men in a world of men.’

SUBSIDIARY FEATURES: the mausoleum is enclosed by a finely detailed, wrought-iron fence and gates, embellished with a variety of delicate floral motifs.

This list entry was subject to a Minor Amendment on 15/09/2017