Sotterley Cemetery Memorial Chapel

Sotterley Cemetery Memorial Chapel is a cemetery chapel built around 1885, possibly designed by Sir Arthur Blomfield for the Barne family of nearby Sotterley Hall. The chapel is constructed of red brick with a brick plinth and cornice, featuring stone dressings. It has a plain tile pyramidal roof topped with a cross finial and an octagonal plan, with gabled porches on the north and south sides. The design is in the Gothic style, characterized by stepped buttresses on the porches and corners of the chapel. The south porch includes double doors set within a Gothic arch, and its gable is adorned with copings. Each face of the chapel features a Gothic window with leaded glazing and a stone surround. The north porch has a stone arch, a coped gable, and a small quatrefoil window on each side.

Inside, the chapel has plastered walls, a boarded ceiling, and pews that back onto the walls, all following the octagonal shape. The chapel was likely constructed shortly after the Sotterley Burial Board purchased the land for the cemetery from the Sotterley Estate in 1883. Its unusual octagonal shape distinguishes it from typical cemetery chapels, and it is believed that Sir Arthur Blomfield, who had previously created plans for the restoration of the nearby church in Sotterley Park, may have designed it before his death in 1899. The Blomfield family were landowners in the Ipswich and Stowmarket areas. This chapel remains virtually intact and is a notable example of late 19th-century cemetery architecture, forming a cohesive group with the nearby First World War memorial.