The Columbarium

71/0/10037 The Columbarium, Brookwood Cemetery 23-JUL-04

GV II Columbarium, originally intended as a mausoleum. c 1900. Designer unknown. Portland stone. DESCRIPTION: a cruciform building, with a central cross-capped dome. The east face is pedimented, carried on paired coupled Doric columns: the tympanum is inscribed COLUMBARIUM. The steps lead to a doorway (blocked with breeze blocks in 2003). The curved quadrant walls have channelled rustication, with rectangular fielded panels above, while the other three arms terminate in paired pilasters. Interior not inspected, believed to have a gallery at ground level and steps leading down to the vault. HISTORY: this structure was originally intended to serve as the mausoleum of the 5th Earl Cadogan (1840-1915): he sold it to the London Necropolis Company in 1910 for £200. The term columbarium, from the Latin for dovecote, refers to a building containing niches for depositing caskets of ashes. This is the largest mausoleum in the cemetery, and is an elegant classical example of the type with an unususal history.