Mausoleum Of Greenwich Hospital In Grounds Of Number 40

The Mausoleum of Greenwich Hospital, located in the grounds of number 40, was built under the direction of Nicholas Hawksmoor between 1713 and 1714. It was designed to serve as a mausoleum for the officers of the Greenwich Hospital and their families, with Richard Billingshurst as the bricklayer. The structure is a single-storey building with three bays, constructed of brown brick and featuring rubbed red brick dressings, stone coping, and a slate roof. The end pediments are adorned with brick pilasters and a round-headed arch that contains a 20th-century plank door.

On the north side, three arched openings have been partially bricked in and partially glazed, with the central opening now having a door. Inside, the floor is paved with stone slabs, and below the structure is a three-bay groined vault made of brick, likely with a floor of beaten earth. At the time of inspection, the vault contained intact, semi-preserved, and collapsed coffins made of lead and wood, along with decayed relics of their former occupants. Some iron bars and a curved section of brickwork on the west side indicate where the original entrance to the vault was located. The mausoleum ceased to be used for interments in the late 1740s. It is depicted in a 1749 engraving of Greenwich Park in the London Magazine, showing its original triple gabled roof with a higher central section.