Torquay Cemetery Lodge Including Flanking Walls, Gates And Gate Piers

The Torquay Cemetery Lodge, along with its flanking walls, gates, and gate piers, dates to approximately 1852, the year the cemetery was established. The lodge is constructed from snecked local grey limestone rubble with Bathstone dressings, and has a natural slate roof with stacks featuring octagonal stone shafts, one of which has been reduced in height. Cast-iron gates and railings are also present. The building is designed in a Tudor style.

The lodge is approximately rectangular in plan, with a rear left service wing and a rear right outhouse. It serves as the centerpiece of a larger entrance ensemble, complete with gateways on either side and curving curtain walls that incorporate entrances to two small buildings, possibly storehouses.

The single-storey lodge has a picturesque, asymmetrical front elevation of three irregular bays projecting from the main block. A central porch features a coped gable, a moulded three-centred doorway, and a recessed plank door. To the right of the porch, a gable faces the front with a coped gable and a two-light stone window with paired lancets below a square-headed dripstone, with small-pane sashes. To the left of the porch, and slightly set back, is a three-sided turret with a moulded string below the parapet, and a single lancet window in a stone frame. The returns of the main block have matching two-light windows. The rear elevation incorporates fragments of an earlier building; a section of rubble wall between the rear wings may be pre-19th century, and the main block includes a probable 19th-century Beerstone window. The interior of the lodge has not been inspected.

Flanking the front of the lodge, cast-iron railings are set on a low chamfered plinth, featuring fleur-de-lis finials above the dog rail and cross finials above the top rail, with matching gates. Octagonal gate piers to the left and right gates have pyramidal stone caps and moulded cornices. The flanking walls have gabled piers at either end and incorporate three-centred arched doorways with plank doors and elaborate strap hinges.

The cemetery site itself is 17 acres and was established by the Torquay Extra-Mural Cemetery Company.