The Mausoleum In The Grounds Of Hestercombe House

The Mausoleum in the grounds of Hestercombe House is a folly built in the late 18th century by Coplestone Warre Bampfylde. Constructed from red brick, glazed brick, and ashlar Bath stone, it features a plant apsidial bay behind an ornamental front that is set into the hillside. The mausoleum has a horseshoe arch opening with a Gibbs surround and vermiculated rustication, all set within a brick facade that rises to a truncated obelisk on a rusticated plinth, which is largely obscured by ivy. It is flanked by ashlar piers with vermiculated dados on low plinths, cavetto moulded cornices, and ball finials on the piers. Above the keystone of the arch, there is a rectangular ashlar plaque that is inscribed illegibly. Inside, part of the vault that connects the facade to the apse is missing, leaving only the white glazed brick apse and some clay roofing tiles. Bampfylde's landscaping of Hestercombe was highly regarded in the late 18th century, and this mausoleum is the only garden feature that remains intact. It is considered an adventurous, if not entirely successful, design. At the time of the survey in January 1984, the structure was noted to be in poor condition.