Entrance Gateway To Abbey Cemetery

RALPH ALLEN DRIVE 656-1/56/1359 Entrance Gateway to Abbey Cemetery

GV II

Gatepiers and gates in a free Gothic manner. 1844, probably by G.P. Manners. MATERIALS: Limestone ashlar, timber and cast iron. Two gate piers with original gates and door between. The piers, on plinths, have roll mouldings to corners in form of engaged quarter columns with bases and capitals; on top are two-stage coped caps. The right hand pier is of double width as it serves both the main gates and the pedestrian entrance to the right. The double carriage gates comprise timber frames in five rows each (four to pedestrian gate), with two-panel lower sections beneath upper sections with cast iron decorative infill containing cruciform motifs. Rears of piers have roll-moulded shafts to corners as well. HISTORY: Abbey Cemetery was one of the three cemeteries to be laid out by John Claudius Loudon, the great guru of early Victorian landscape design, and is the best example of his specific theories on cemetery design, fusing a formal lay-out with informal planting. It was designed in 1843, and was among Loudon's last projects. Laid out on land formerly belonging to the Prior Park estate, it was opened for use by the Bishop of Salisbury on 30th January 1844, and survives remarkably intact. The cemetery is now in the guardianship of Bath City Council. These gates are in the same position as those marked on Loudon's original plan of 1843, and lead to a long rising drive, flanked by boundary wall and embankment, which leads directly to the heart of the cemetery. The attribution to G.P. Manners, the City Surveyor, is based on the fact that he designed the other cemetery structure here, the Mortuary Chapel (qv). These gates underwent extensive restoration in c.1990, when the wooden gates were renewed, incorporating the original ironwork and door furniture.

Listing NGR: ST7581363743