Anglican, Non Conformist And Mortuary Chapels, Aylesbury Cemetery

Anglican, Non-Conformist, and mortuary chapels were built in 1856 by W.F. Poulton and W.H. Woodman as part of Aylesbury Cemetery. The Anglican and Non-Conformist chapels are constructed of coursed rubble with stone dressings and continuous sill bands, featuring stone buttress offsets. They have steeply pitched slated roofs with fishscale patterning and brattished ridge tiles, exhibiting a Gothic style. The Anglican chapel has three bays and a lower chancel. A steeply gabled projecting entrance porch is located in the north-western bay, alongside a slender bell tower with lancet openings, lucarnes, and a spire at the north-western angle. A corresponding transept with a lancet window and a three-light triangular window is situated within the south-western bay, set within a small western gable. Windows feature curvilear tracery with aprons of blind stone arcading that mirrors the window lights. The interior is simply painted, with enriched orbels to the chancel arch and a scissor-truss roof. Original features include cusped altar rails and a wooden pulpit. The Non-Conformist chapel has four bays, mirroring the Anglican design with a porch in the north-eastern bay. A bell tower with a spire rises from the right of the porch, and a south-western vestry transept is similar to that of the Anglican chapel. Windows display Geometric tracery and blind stone arcading. The interior is plain painted, with moulded corbels supporting the scissor-truss roof. The mortuary chapel is constructed of pale yellow brick with black brick diaper patterning, dressings, and stone buttress offsets. The rear facade is of red brick. It features a pyramidal slated roof with upswept dogtooth brick eaves, gables, and a cross finial. The rectangular structure has a pointed arch entrance on its north-western facade. Returns to the sides have three grouped lancet windows, while the rear has plain two-leaf wooden doors. The three chapels represent a fine example of early Burial Board architecture, reflecting the extension of the London Act to England and Wales in 1853. The Reading-based architects specialized in Non-Conformist churches and secured contracts for cemeteries in central southern England through a competitive process.