Dawson Mausoleum, Chapelford is a Grade B listed building in the Moray local planning authority area, Scotland. First listed on 24 March 1988. Burial ground, chapel, mausoleum.

Dawson Mausoleum, Chapelford

WRENN ID
spare-cornice-ivory
Grade
B
Local Planning Authority
Moray
Constituency
Aberdeenshire North and Moray East MP: Seamus Logan (SNP)
Country
Scotland
Date first listed
24 March 1988
Type
Burial ground, chapel, mausoleum
OS grid reference
NJ 390 599
Coordinates
57.62547, -3.02173
Source
Historic Environment Scotland listing

Also on this page: flood risk · radon risk · weather exposure · detailed attributes ↓

Description

St Ninian's Chapel and Burial Ground in Chapelford features a rectangular burial ground with rubble walls. The entrance is located in the northeast corner, flanked by square ashlar gatepiers topped with shallow pyramidal caps. These gatepiers are connected by an ashlar overthrow that has an apex cross, and there is a pair of cast-iron gates.

The rectangular mortuary chapel, designed by architect W G Brander from Clochan, Banffshire in 1955, is incorporated into the eastern angle of the burial ground wall. It has harled walls with ashlar dressings and a round-headed entrance in the center of the west gable, which features double-leaf plank doors. The chapel has crowstepped gables and a cross finial at the apex of the west gable. A datestone from 1687 has been re-set into the structure.

The Dawson Mausoleum, designed by architect Reginald Fairlie in 1939, is octagonal and constructed of rubble with tooled and polished ashlar dressings. It has a small gabled projection on the east side and a recessed entrance on the west, featuring a roll-moulded, semi-octagonal frame and double-leaf plank doors. Each face of the mausoleum has small square-headed lights with lattice-pane glazing. The roof is piended, octagonal, and covered with graded Banffshire slate, topped with a lead apex cross.

The site also includes 17th-century and later tombstones, as well as a white marble Celtic memorial cross that is heavily decorated with interlacing designs.

Local climate

Dawson Mausoleum, Chapelford sits in a wetter-than-average part of the UK, with an average of 970 mm of rain a year. This makes it wetter than 78% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is lower than that of 53% of listed buildings.

It experiences an average of 20 freeze-thaw cycles a year, fewer than 79% of listed buildings. Of these, 15 follow at least 1 mm of rain in the preceding 48 hours. Average temperatures at this location have risen by 0.3°C per decade since 1991.

Averages for 1991–2020; temperature trend 1991–2025. Figures describe the wider area (a grid cell of roughly 10 km), not the individual site. Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026.

More on this building

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  • Flood risk assessment
  • Radon risk assessment
  • Weather exposure and heating demand — rain and frost month by month and year by year, wind direction, solar and humidity
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