Columbarium

The Columbarium

Through the help of Pankhurst Graphic Masonry the Society has employed Mr John Deal - an architectural consultant and conservation expert - to compile reports on the current state of the Drake mausoleum and the Columbarium. Mr Deal was also requested to recommend appropriate remedial work to prevent any further deterioration to these mausoleums.

Mr Deal's report outlines the immediate work that is required to repair the roof and guttering to help keep water out of this structure. The cost of this is estimated at £7,243 which the Society needs to raise urgently in order to proceed with this work.

(Left) Vegetation forcing slabs apart on the roof of the Columbarium

To date the Society has been awarded grants from Woking Borough Council (£600) and the Surrey Historic Buildings Trust (£2,000), but this leaves over £4,500 to be raised before any work can commence.

Further information will be posted here as work proceeds.

(Right) Fractured stone at the base of the dome

The Columbarium is the largest mausoleum in the cemetery. it was commissioned by the 5th Earl Cadogan (1840-1915) in the early 1880s. Unused, he decided to sell it back to the London Necropolis Company in 1910. Shortly afterwards the company converted into a "columbarium" - a building for the reception of funerary urns.

The following description is taken from the information supporting the designation of this building as a Grade II structure (23 July 2004):

"Designer unknown. Portland stone.

"DESCRIPTION: a cruciform building, with central cross-capped dome. The east face is pedimented, carried on paired coupled Doric columns: the tympanum is inscribed COLUMBARIVM. The steps lead to a doorway (blocked with breeze blocks in 2003). The curved quadrant walls have channelled rustication, with rectangular fielded panels above, while the other three arms terminate in paired pilasters. Interior not inspected, believed to have a gallery at ground level and steps leading down to the vault.

"HISTORY: this structure was originally intended to serve as the mausoleum of the 5^th Earl Cadogan (1840-1915): he sold it to the London Necropolis Company in 1910 for £200. The term columbarium (from the Latin for dovecote), refers to a building containing niches for depositing caskets of ashes. This is the largest mausoleum in the cemetery, and is an elegant classical example of the type with an unusual history."

Photographs © The Brookwood Cemetery Society and John Deal