Mausoleum Of Sir James Tillie, Mount Ararat

The Mausoleum of Sir James Tillie, located at Mount Ararat, is an early 18th-century structure built from slatestone rubble with brick dressings. It features a square plan tower set within a square walled enclosure, and the tower includes a two-storey porch designed in a picturesque Gothic style. The exterior consists of a three-stage tower, with each stage slightly set back and adorned with brick string courses and an embattled parapet. The two-storey porch also has an embattled parapet, with a round brick arch at the front. The inner entrance is blocked, but a small single light has been inserted. On the right side, there is a round-arched brick opening that is also blocked, likely a former door, while the left side has a similar blocked window. The rear features a small opening in the second stage. The surrounding walls are made of rubble and include buttresses on the outer side. At the front, the walls rise to a pair of square plan rubble piers with cornices, and there is a flight of ten stone steps leading to the front, although the flanking walls are partly collapsed.

Inside, the walls are plastered, but the roof and first floor are missing. The rear wall displays a segmental arch with a putto as the keystone, flanked by panels with floral designs. At the front, there is a plaster statue of Sir James Tillie seated on a pedestal. Sir James Tillie passed away on November 17, 1713, and he had requested that upon his death, his body be placed in a chair where he died and set in a walled vault or grotto overlooking Plymouth Sound and Harbour, dressed in his hat, wig, and rings. Circa 1770, his body was removed and replaced by the plaster statue, which is said to be made of plaster but may be covered with another material.