Mortuary Chapel In Tiverton Cemetery

The mortuary chapel in Tiverton Cemetery was built in 1855 by G.A. Boyce of Tiverton. It is constructed of squared purple-red stone rubble with Bath stone dressings and features a slated roof in the Anglo-Norman style.

The exterior of the chapel includes a nave with three single light, round-headed windows on each side, along with three more on the apse. There are flat buttresses between and flanking the windows. At the west end, there is a round-arched doorway with attached columns, featuring double plank doors that are studded and equipped with ornate iron strap-hinges. Above the doorway is a similar single light window, and a stone cross is positioned on the gable. The eastern gable shows the base of a former stone bell turret, and the gutters are supported by stone corbel tables that are carved with grotesque heads.

Inside, the chapel has simple wooden pews on either side of a central aisle, with the pew-ends carved with quatrefoils. There is a wooden altar with trefoil-headed panels and a dado made of upright planking. The roof is arch-braced, with the feet of the braces resting on moulded stone corbels. There may be patterned tiles beneath the fitted carpets. The chapel also houses an old wooden coffin-carriage with iron wheels that have solid rubber tyres, marked with a brass maker's plate from Dottridge Bros. Ltd. of Dorset Works, East Road, London.

This chapel was one of two built by the Burial Board for the Parish of Tiverton, following plans prepared by Mr. Gideon Acland Boyce, the architect for the Burial Board. The nonconformist chapel has since been demolished, while the Church of England chapel remains. Boyce's drawing for the nonconformist chapel, which was identical to the surviving one, is preserved in the Devon Record Office. The chapel's construction was approved in August 1855, with a completion target of 1 August 1856 for both chapels, the lodge, and the entrance gates. Plans for re-seating both chapels were created by William Rowe of Tiverton in 1891, and this work was completed along with the laying of decorative tiles by 1892.