Petre Mausoleum

A High Victorian Gothic chapel in Kentish ragstone with freestone dressings and a red clay roof. There is a vestry and a delicately elaborated bellcote on the south side. There is much sculptural ornament; a cornice with an inscription interspersed with foliate decoration runs all round the building, while the north and west doorways are enriched by figurative carving. The interior is of the highest quality with much polychromatic decoration and stained glass by Hardman & Co. The roof has gilded angels at the apex of the roof trusses and carved on the horizontal rails of the corbel backets. Ten panels depict the Stations of the Cross. The altar is of stone and integrated into the east wall. Above it is a richly carved reredos with figurative work, although much of the lower level stone carving is damaged. Steps give access to the large burial chamber below which has a stone vault. The walls are lined with shelves and coffins.

Architect(s) W.W. Wardell

Listing Grade II* (England and Wales)

Year Created 1850

Style Gothic Revival

History The Petres are a long established Roman Catholic family; one forbear, the 4th Baron William Petre (1622-84) was accused of complicity in the Popish Plot and died in the Tower of London after five years imprisonment. It is not known who built the mausoleum, but it may have been the 12th Baron, William Bernard Petre (1817-1884) following the death of his father in 1850. The mausoleum still belongs to the family. It was sealed in the 1970s after the burial chamber had been entered and the coffins disturbed by vandals.

Condition Fair. The soft sandstone used for the decorative parts of the building is crumbling away, and some of the roof tiles are slipping. Taken into the care of the Historic Chapels Trust in 2010.

Sources BoE: Essex (1979), 388; Shell Guide: Essex (1982), 124; Burke's Peerage.