Salisbury Crematorium

Salisbury Crematorium

A crematorium chapel with rectangular plan, designed in the late 20th century, built in concrete, brick and flint with metal window surrounds and a copper roof to the chapel. The building comprises a central chapel with lower ranges extending to either side, including the crematorium and manager's office to the north-west, and a courtyard garden enclosed by a colonnade to the south-east. A small circular building for the Book of Remembrance is attached to the south-east end.

The south-west elevation is dominated by the central entrance, which has a flat canopy resting on brick piers and two concrete columns, pierced with mosaic-decorated roof lights. Above this rises the chapel and chimney, designed to resemble a church spire and clad in a decorative chequered pattern of Portland stone and flint, referencing traditional local building materials. To either side are lower single-storey flat-roofed brick wings with strip windows set just under the roof line. A diamond-shaped canopy links the right wing to the small drum-shaped, concrete and flint-clad Book of Remembrance building, which is accessed via a timber door with full-height strips of vertical glazing and lit from above by a complete circle of clerestory windows. The main chapel entrance has full-height windows with metal surrounds. The central door opening was raised in the later 20th century to allow easier access for coffin bearers.

The north-east elevation is similarly dominated by the chapel and chimney, clad in the same chequered pattern of Portland stone and flint. Double timber doors at the base of the chimney give access to the chapel, crematorium and offices. To the left is the raised courtyard garden, enclosed by a flat-roofed glazed colonnade and accessed by steps beneath a flat canopy, which may be a later addition. Beyond this, at the same level, are two terraces set on a brick base with remembrance plaques, offering views of the park and long-distance views of the surrounding landscape to the south.

The south-east elevation is dominated by the Book of Remembrance building, with steps to its right leading to the terraces, which are lined by the flat-roofed glazed colonnade, the courtyard garden and chapel beyond. The chapel's south-east elevation is characterised by a tall, leaded chevron-patterned window to the right, to which a plastic film imitating stained glass was recently added to the central panes. To the right-hand side, the chapel is clad in Portland stone with tall windows below and clerestory lighting above.

The interior comprises a lobby in front of the chapel, lit from above by decorative mosaic-clad roof lights, with central double timber doors flanked by vertical full-height glazed strips. The chapel itself has a parquet floor, with slender concrete aggregate fins to either side supporting a tall ceiling decorated with central vertical timbers and white board panelling, from which a series of ball-shaped lights hang. The wall behind the altar, with the timber catafalque to its left, is clad in roughly dressed Portland stone and lit by the full-height leaded window to its right. The nave walls, beneath clerestory lighting, are clad in projecting and alternating timber-boxed white panelling, with a brick wall to the left below and windows to the right set in stone-cobbled rills overlooking the courtyard garden. The original timber pews survive, though only those in the front row retain their kneelers.