Northern Mortuary Chapel, Exeter Cemetery

The Northern Mortuary Chapel at Exeter Cemetery is one of a pair of Gothic mortuary chapels, likely built in 1866 when the cemetery was officially consecrated and opened. Designed by Edward Ashworth to serve the Nonconformists, the other chapel is designated for Anglicans. The chapel is constructed from Heavitree coursed stone with Bath stone dressings and features slate roofs with bands of different colours, along with cast iron rainwater goods and ridge tiles topped with finials. It is designed in a decorated Gothic Revival style, matching the other chapel and the cemetery lodge.

The chapel has a small rectangular plan with a west end entrance and consists of three bays. It features low battered footings and angle buttresses with set-offs, as well as similar buttresses for each bay. The west end has a gabled bellcote that houses a bell. The exterior includes decorated style two-light traceried windows with hoodmoulds and variations in head tracery. The west end features a pointed arched plank door with Gothic iron strap hinges, flanked by two decorated style windows above, and a single blind decorated style window in the apex of the gable. The east end has a three-light window with trefoil-headed lights, head tracery, and hoodmoulds, adorned with carved pre-Raphaelite style heads at the terminals. The east window contains stained glass, while the other windows are glazed with clear glass. An iron bootscraper is located to the left of the door.

Internally, the chapel inspected features a hammer beam roof supported by stone corbels. Edward Ashworth was a prominent local Gothic Revival architect known for his church restoration work, and this chapel is part of a significant group alongside the Southern Mortuary Chapel and Lodge.