Tomb Of Matthews In Arnos Vale Cemetery

901-1/0/10136 BATH ROAD 30-JAN-03 Tomb of Matthews in Arnos Vale Cemetery

GV II*

Tomb of Thomas Gadd Matthews (d.1860) Signed by Tyley of Bristol, monumental masons. Marble, on a base of Pennant stone. A two-stage monument of large proportions, set within a plot surround with ten marble posts, connected with tubular rails; the posts are headed with segmental pediments to each face, decorated with flowers. The monument stands on a stepped base, the upper section of which has concave sides. The lower section comprises a chest tomb with scrolled, acanthus-enriched consoles set at angles to the corners. Each face has an inset inscription panel, surrounded with a foliate border to the sides. The upper stage consists of a sarcophagus standing on claw feet: on each side is a relief of a 'tabula ansata' flanked by foliate enrichment to the corners. The gadrooned cover supports a moulded, two-stage lid surmounted with a finial made up of consoles and an anthemion motif. HISTORY: Matthews is described here as a merchant. His monument is among the finest in the cemetery. It is of unusual ambition, and is remarkable in its reliance on 18th century Georgian churchyard memorials for inspiration.