Packe Family Mausoleum And Attached Railings To Rear Of Number 23

The Packe Family Mausoleum, built in the mid-19th century, is possibly designed by architect William Burn. Constructed from limestone ashlar with a limestone roof, it features a rectangular chapel above a burial vault. The entrance is located at the north end and is designed in a Norman style. A flight of seven stone steps, flanked by a plain stone plinth, leads to a double-leaf door. The doorway is adorned with two orders of shafts topped with cushion capitals and a roll-moulded round-arched head, complemented by continuous narrow sunk quadrant moulding and a hoodmould. There are blank arches on either side of the door, each with one order of shafts, a roll-moulded round-arched head, and hoodmoulds. The gable displays a roll-mould circular window with a hoodmould and beakhead label stops. The sides of the mausoleum feature three pairs of blank windows with roll-moulded round-arched heads and hoodmoulds, each with label stops. The south end has a triple window with stepped round-arched heads and a blank section below the transom decorated with diaper patterns. The gable cross has been renewed, and the structure includes hollow-chamfered and roll-moulded stone eaves and gables, along with a roll-moulded plinth, cill band, and moulded impost band.

Inside, the chapel boasts a black and white tiled floor in a trompe l'oeil pattern and stained glass in the gable window. The vault is brick-lined with two arched double tomb screens on either side and features a brick tunnel vault. The mausoleum is accompanied by attached railings topped with fleur-de-lys. It is believed to date from 1869 and is associated with Charles Packe, who initiated the development of Branksome Park.