Apperly Family Mausoleum

A small mausoleum, built in about 1913 for Sir Alfred Apperly (1839-1913), designed by Percy Morley Horder (1870-1944) with carved tympanum by John Houghton Maurice Bonnor (1875-1917); further family inscriptions added later.

MATERIALS Local limestone.

PLAN The portal to the mausoleum is set into the raised bank alongside an east-west path in the churchyard, and the tomb extends southwards underground.

DESCRIPTION The mausoleum, in an Arts and Crafts inspired style, is partly subterranean, with its portal alongside the churchyard path, and the body of the tomb running to the rear, underground. Its extent is marked on the surface by kerbstones, with the body of the tomb covered by three large slabs.

The portal includes of a pair of square-section piers, slightly tapering. These carry carved inscriptions to Sir Alfred Apperly, for whom the mausoleum was constructed, and other members of the family later added, most of the inscriptions now weathered and with lichen growth which has reduced their legibility. Those commemorated are: Sir Alfred Apperly; Lady Maria Apperly; Charles Alfred Apperly, eldest son of Sir Alfred and Lady Maria (d 1939); Mary Apperly, wife of Charles Alfred (d 1967); Peter Murray Small, an infant grandson of Charles, son of Harold and Marjorie Small; and Arthur Lancelot Apperly, son of Sir Alfred and Lady Maria, who died during the Battle of the Somme in 1916.

From the piers, flanking walls run away from the path at a height of about 1.5m, retaining the surrounding ground; they ramp upwards and converge slightly as they meet the front face of the portal. The area thus enclosed is paved, with a curved apron alongside the path; the paving includes a slab bearing the carved crest of the Apperly family, now weathered. The front face of the portal has a pair of taller monoliths either side of a low double doorway, the doors clad in copper, weathered to verdigris, with lattice detailing in each of the four panels to resemble a woven screen, and paired copper rivets. Above this is a lintel with chamfered lower edge, carved with the legend MORS JANUA VITAE. The remainder of the portal rises above ground level; a tapering stone structure which steps inwards in three stages rises from the rear of the piers flanking the doorway, and houses a recessed semi-circular tympanum by John Houghton Maurice Bonnor (1875-1917) with a pierced relief carving of angels with bowed heads flanking a chalice set against a stylised tree, with pierced, woven lattice below and behind them, echoing the copper work on the doors. Above the tympanum, in the apex, is a swastika in relief, symbolising peace. The rear of the superstructure is plain.

This list entry was subject to a Minor Amendment on 10 November 2022 to correct a typo in the description