Aylesbury Cemetery (also known as Tring Road Cemetery)

W F Poulton and Woodman planned a classical looking cemetery for Aylesbury.

The two chapels and mortuary, known as the Dead House, were designed in the Gothic style by Reading-based architects WF Poulton and WH Woodman. The Dead House was a place to house the deceased prior to burial.

On the left is the episcopal chapel, originally for followers of the Church of England, which is still used for services today. On the right is the dissenters’ chapel, originally for followers of other faiths, which is available for hire.

All three of the buildings are grade II listed as good examples of early burial board architecture.

Along with Box, Wiltshire (1858), which only has a single chapel, this is apparently one of the best surviving examples of their cemetery work (c.f. Amersham and the more flamboyant Basingstoke, both 1859). The geometric layout, which survives largely intact, was developed successively during the later C19 and C20, echoing the original pattern, still retaining some notable trees from the largely evergreen C19 planting which made a significant contribution to the ornamental cemetery character, and some from successive phases.

The nucleus of the layout is a typical mid‐nineteenth century geometric pattern, focussed on elaborate Gothic‐style buildings and thickly ornamented with many evergreen trees, some of which remain, notably yews, holly and Wellingtonia. The later phases and their planting largely respected this pattern and include a cedar avenue? The chapels have finely sculpted ornamentation which survives in good condition.

The following is from the Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest. For the most up-to-date Register entry, please visit The National Heritage List for England (NHLE):

Location, Area, Boundaries, Landform and Setting

The cemetery as laid out covered 2.2ha. and has been extended in phases so that it now (2014) covers 7ha. The cemetery is located in the Walton district of Aylesbury, adjacent and to the south of the A41 Tring Road (formerly Akeman Street) on the outskirts of the town (750m east from where the A41 joins the ring road and 2 km from St Marys Church to the east). It is situated to the northeast of Aylesbury Grammar School (founded late C16, moved to present site 1906, Hanley/Hunt) and southeast of the former Hazel, Watson and Viney printing works, now retain and factory units.

Myrtle Villa to the north of the Tring Road (1878 OS) is one of the earliest buildings in the vicinity of the cemetery, and of similar date it seems, but most of the other development is of a later date and predominantly late Victorian, Edwardian and post‐Second World War housing. The brick boundary walls on the Tring Road to the north of the site were partially re‐built in the C21, but in similar form using the original stone cappings. The brick sections are intersected with railings, which would have allowed passers‐by to see into the cemetery, but these views are obscured by hedges.

The original south‐west boundary wall formerly flanking the mortuary (shown on the Poulton & Woodman drawings) was demolished by 1880 (OS), when the cemetery was extended to the southwest. 200m east of the main entrance, the hedged and fenced boundary turns south, skirting a residential property and then the former allotment site (now to be used for cremations), and continues irregularly around the site as a panelled brick wall (C20). The ground within the cemetery is generally level. The views are limited being largely contained within the boundaries and mainly focussed on the main 1850s axis and associated buildings, particularly the chapels. When it was laid out, the cemetery was surrounded by agricultural land, but with the growth of Aylesbury in the C20 it is now within an urban setting with a mix of light industrial, residential, service, and school premises.

Entrances and Approaches

The principal entrance is from the north off the Tring Road through mid‐C20 iron gates adjoining the site of the former lodge. The 1850s semi‐circular gateway was demolished in the mid‐C20 when the present boundary line parallel to the Tring Road was established. The former curved line of the gateway was reflected in the shape of the new car park. The C20 gateway, which is sited 10m north of the former C19 entrance, is off axis with the main drive. The drive extends southwest from the car park, after 50m reaching the west side of
the Anglican chapel, where it continues around the building in an oval to allow for the turning of hearses. The drive continues for 50m south‐west to reach the east end of the dissenters’ chapel connecting with a similar turning oval, before ending 75m further on, at a
roundel planted with a large Wellingtonia, in front (north) of the mortuary. The drive is concrete, but would formerly have been gravel; some evidence of this remains. A second pedestrian entrance created in the 1960s off Turnfurlong gives access from the southwest of the site and southern car park.

Principal Building

The main C19 buildings are by Poulter & Woodman: two chapels (both grade II listed) and a mortuary. The chapels by the same architects at Amersham and Basingstoke cemeteries, both also laid out by Poulter & Woodman, have been demolished; their chapel at Box, Wilts survives and is similar to those on this site. The two asymmetrically sited chapels dominate the original mid‐C19 core of the site, the main drive serving to separate the two sections of the cemetery, Anglican and dissenters’. The chapels are of similar design and construction with minor differences. The Anglican chapel is consecrated and still in its intended use; it has a chancel arch and small crosses on the roof.

The dissenters’ chapel has no cross; it is now (2014) used as a store. Both chapels have small spirelets and are built of rubble stone, with Bath stone dressings and fish scale slate roof tiles topped with decorative ridge tiles. Stone finials and other decoration are in evidence. The iron gates of the dissenters’ chapel porch survive in good condition with the ornamentation intact. The mortuary, by contrast, is brick‐built using black and pale yellow bricks to create a diaper pattern, except the southwest wall which was intended to be hidden and is therefore plain. There are decorated ventilation panels and triangular louvres in the pyramidal slated roof. Two short sections of wall surviving from the 1850s boundary flank the mortuary, abutting its south‐west and south‐east walls.

Other land

The cemetery is laid out in a grid plan with the 1850s chapels being the focus of the site. These were intended for religious ceremonies before the interment, but only the Anglican one is used for this purpose today. The cemetery was constructed so it would be regarded with civic pride and therefore care was taken over the design and renowned architects were employed and much of the core design by Poulton and Woodman remains intact today. The paths that form the grid layout are integral to the design as was the planting of trees and hedging. This pattern and character was followed when the extensions were added in the late C19 and early C20 on the Tring Road side of the cemetery.

The oldest areas of the cemetery contain typical C19 evergreen cemetery planting, including Wellingtonia, stone pine, Irish yews and cedars and two fine beech trees. The trees flank the main drives and the lines of the paths which cross them. Some of the paths enclose small roundels which were also planted with specimen trees. The later C20 area to the south of the core has a more piecemeal layout with monuments in a wider range of styles. It contains the memorial garden constructed in 1964 by J. S. Bishop & Co. (King). This garden is used for cremated remains and is informally landscaped and includes an ornamental pond, deciduous trees and flowers. Cemetery ledgers (CBS) illustrate the phases of burial in the major areas.

There is a collection of modest memorials, the most notable are found in the area along the north half of the west boundary west of the dissenters’ chapel. In this area there are approximately thirty C19 gothic‐shaped headstones and the fine, but weather damaged, chest tomb of Joseph Kingham. The Tindall family (Acton Tindall, founder of the workhouse on Bicester Road, Aylesbury) plot containing seven graves surrounded by iron railings, is located 50m to the southeast of the Anglican chapel to the east side of the path. A number of Commonwealth war graves occur throughout the cemetery, from First and Second World Wars; during the First World War there was a military hospital at nearby Queen’s Park School which may account for some of the graves. A World War One Cross of Sacrifice and memorial plinth of Portland stone, designed by Sir Reginald Blomfield (unveiled 1924) is centrally located 150m south of the main entrance on the corner of the C20 section. The rest of the cemetery contains C20 memorials of numerous designs, including Italian, Polish and Islamic (facing Mecca) memorials. There are a number of C20/21 ornate family mausolea within the west corner of the site.