Cemetery Chapel Of Widcombe, Lyncombe And St James'S Cemetery

The Cemetery Chapel of Widcombe, Lyncombe and St James's Cemetery is a pair of chapels built between 1861 and 1862 by C.E. Davis. Constructed from lias stone with limestone ashlar dressings and topped with a plain tile roof, these ornate apsidal chapels feature small transeptal chapels and are connected by a two-bay open port cochere, which is topped with the remains of a fleche. The chapels are symmetrically arranged along an east-west axis and are designed in the French Flamboyant style.

The exterior of each chapel includes an octagonal apse with five high coped gables and two-light traceried windows, along with two-stage square buttresses. The balancing chapels have lower ridges and clasping square buttresses, featuring three-light traceried windows with moulded drip courses. On the north side, each chapel has a pointed plank door with strap hinges leading to the apsidal side. The short naves are arranged in two bays, each with two small two-light traceried windows with flat segmental heads. Above the nave bays are quatrefoil pierced parapets, and a high plinth with double offsets encircles the entire structure.

The lower level includes a transverse gabled roof over the porte-cochere, supported by two high moulded pointed arches on shafts, with square buttresses and crocketed heads. A central buttress rises to the base of the central cruciform fleche, which is cropped at a level partway up the former pinnacles. Each open porch has a simple quadripartite ribbed vault leading to an inner porch with a plank door on strap hinges and a pointed arch below the fleche in the wall between the two halves. Each side of the arches features a single small bay with a square light that has reticulated tracery. The building includes ten original cast iron downpipes and hopperheads on each side, along with lead spouts to the apsidal valleys. Each apse is adorned with a delicate wrought iron terminal feature.

Inside, the chapels have been stripped of most fittings, revealing unplastered walls and a heavy double chamfered chancel arch on shafts with capitals, leading to scissor rafter roofs. The chapels are enclosed by timber screens, showcasing the fully detailed Gothic Revival design.