Pair of Chapels, Lodge, Wall and Gate Piers at Tweedmouth Cemetery, Berwick-upon-Tweed, Northumberland

Description

BERWICK UPON TWEED

622/0/10106 CEMETERY LANE
08-DEC-09 TWEEDMOUTH
PAIR OF CHAPELS, LODGE, WALL AND GATE
PIERS AT TWEEDMOUTH CEMETERY

II
Pair of Mortuary chapels and lodge, 1858.

MATERIALS: Squared sandstone blocks in random courses, with Welsh slate roofs.

PLAN: The gatelodge is set between two sets of wrought iron gates and gate piers, with paths leading right and left (west and east) to two chapels which face each other. The chapels are mirror images of each other, having a rectangular plan with a tower at the front right and left corner respectively.

EXTERIORS: Lodge: from the road, the lodge has a central two storey gable, with two round-arch windows at ground floor and a single one in the gable, all one-over-one sashes. To each side is a single storey wing with a similar window. At the apex is a single tall stack with chimney pot. The left return has a two-storey gable to the left with a paired window at ground floor and a single in the gable, all round arched sashes. To the right is a lower gable slightly forward, with two round arched doors of slightly different sizes, having decorative iron hinges. To the right again is a flat roofed section with a single door (a former convenience). The right return is the same except that one of the two doors is replaced by a window. Gables are raised with stone kneelers. To the rear two tall double stacks rise from the eaves. A high stone wall, pierced on the left return by a wooden gate, encloses a small courtyard to the rear: foundation remains suggest former outbuildings both within and without this wall.
East chapel (former Church of England): the west front has a central round-arch doorway with moulded surround with Norman style dog-tooth decoration; the double door has similar hinges to the lodge doors. There is a string course at the springing of the arch, another at first floor level and a third at the springing of the arch of the upper window. The central upper window is a bipartite window with moulded surround and Corinthian style columns. The gable above has a dentil cornice. At the left side is a projecting square tower with a projecting moulded plinth and two string courses at first floor and eaves level. There is a narrow round arched window at first floor level and a larger one in the top stage to front and back with small round windows to the sides. Above is a tall square spire with dentil cornice and decorative fish-scale slates. Each side has a projecting plinth and three large round arch windows set in slightly recessed bays divided by flat pilasters and topped by dentils. The windows rise above a string course with a further string course at the springing of the arch. To the rear the lower string course continues and there are three windows similarly set as those to the sides. Above, the gable end is raised with a round window in the centre. The roof incorporates bands of decorative fish-scale slates.
West Chapel (former Nonconformist): this is a reverse image of the east chapel.

INTERIORS: The interior of the lodge was not accessed.
East Chapel: the interior is simply laid out with bench pews to either side of a central aisle with a slightly raised area to the east end with an altar, reading desk and altar rail, all in timber. The roof is boarded with two exposed trusses with arched braces below a king post and struts.
West chapel: the interior is used for storage and has no fittings surviving apart from tongue and groove boarding to the lower walls. The roof is the same as the east chapel.

HISTORY: The cemetery was established in 1858 when the churchyard at the church of St Bartholomew became full and the Burial Act allowed local authorities and parishes to make provision outside of churchyards for burying the dead. The site appears to have been a quarry previously. The two chapels were intended for Church of England and Nonconformist services, but only the Church of England chapel remains in use while the other is used for storage. The lodge building is operated by social services for family uses.

SUBSIDIARY ITEMS: The gates on either side of the lodge are of wrought iron and hung from wrought iron piers formed of a hollow square decoratively wrought. The cemetery is enclosed by a low stone wall.

REASONS FOR DESIGNATION
The mortuary chapels, gate lodge, gates and piers at Tweedmouth Cemetery are designated at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

* They demonstrate a significant development in the provision of services for the dead in the mid-nineteenth century
* The chapels are architecturally competent with a strong design which is modified for the domestic status of the gatelodge while retaining features which bind them together as a group
* Their Norman styling is unusual for this type of building
* They are an intact group which has suffered from very little loss or alteration

Reasons for Listing

The mortuary chapels, gate lodge, gates and piers at Tweedmouth Cemetery are designated at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

External Links

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