Darnley Mausoleum
Encyclopedia
Cobham, Kent
Cobham is a village and civil parish in the Gravesham District of Kent, England. It is located south of Watling Street, the old road from Dover to London, six miles south-east of Gravesend. The hamlet of Sole Street lies within the parish, which covers an area of 1,240 ha and has a population of...
Woods, Kent (OS grid ref:
British national grid reference system
The Ordnance Survey National Grid reference system is a system of geographic grid references used in Great Britain, different from using latitude and longitude....
TQ694684). It was designed by James Wyatt
James Wyatt
James Wyatt RA , was an English architect, a rival of Robert Adam in the neoclassical style, who far outdid Adam in his work in the neo-Gothic style.-Early classical career:...
for the 4th Earl of Darnley
Earl of Darnley
Earl of Darnley is a title that has been created three times, twice in the Peerage of Scotland and once in the Peerage of Ireland. The first creation in the Peerage of Scotland came in 1580 in favour of Esme Stewart, 1st Earl of Lennox. He was created Duke of Lennox at the same time. See the latter...
according to detailed instructions in the will of the 3rd Earl of Darnley
Earl of Darnley
Earl of Darnley is a title that has been created three times, twice in the Peerage of Scotland and once in the Peerage of Ireland. The first creation in the Peerage of Scotland came in 1580 in favour of Esme Stewart, 1st Earl of Lennox. He was created Duke of Lennox at the same time. See the latter...
. It was never used. The woodland is part of the parkland laid out by Humphry Repton
Humphry Repton
Humphry Repton was the last great English landscape designer of the eighteenth century, often regarded as the successor to Capability Brown; he also sowed the seeds of the more intricate and eclectic styles of the 19th century...
, and is 1.6 km from the North Downs Way
North Downs Way
The North Downs Way is a long-distance path in southern England, opened in 1978. It runs from Farnham to Dover, past Godalming, Guildford, Dorking, Merstham, Otford and Rochester, along the Surrey Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and Kent Downs AONB.East of Boughton Lees, the path splits...
.
History
The Earls of Darnley had been buried at Westminster AbbeyWestminster Abbey
The Collegiate Church of St Peter at Westminster, popularly known as Westminster Abbey, is a large, mainly Gothic church, in the City of Westminster, London, United Kingdom, located just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is the traditional place of coronation and burial site for English,...
, but after the death of John Bligh, the 3rd Earl the vaults were full. James Wyatt
James Wyatt
James Wyatt RA , was an English architect, a rival of Robert Adam in the neoclassical style, who far outdid Adam in his work in the neo-Gothic style.-Early classical career:...
, the most fashionable architect of the time, was commissioned to design a mausoleum. He exhibited the design at the Royal Academy
Royal Academy
The Royal Academy of Arts is an art institution based in Burlington House on Piccadilly, London. The Royal Academy of Arts has a unique position in being an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects whose purpose is to promote the creation, enjoyment and...
in 1783. A slightly modified design, by George Dance
George Dance
George Dance may refer to:* George Dance the Elder, English architect* George Dance the Younger, English architect, son of George Dance the Elder* George Dance , Canadian politician* George Dance , English lyricist and librettist...
was completed in 1786, but for obscure reasons, it was never consecrated. Humphry Repton
Humphry Repton
Humphry Repton was the last great English landscape designer of the eighteenth century, often regarded as the successor to Capability Brown; he also sowed the seeds of the more intricate and eclectic styles of the 19th century...
started to redesign the gardens for the 4th Earl in the 1790s and the mausoleum became a landscape feature.
The family moved out of the hall
Cobham Hall
Cobham Hall is a country house in Cobham, Kent, England. There has been a manor house on the site since the 12th century. The current building consists of a pair of Tudor wings built for William Brooke, 10th Baron Cobham in the 16th century and a later classical central block, and a kitchen court...
in he 1950s though kept the mausoleum. Without the gamekeeper
Gamekeeper
A gamekeeper is a person who manages an area of countryside to make sure there is enough game for shooting, or fish for angling, and who actively manages areas of woodland, moorland, waterway or farmland for the benefit of game birds, deer, fish and wildlife in general.Typically, a gamekeeper is...
maintaining security the building became prone to vandalism. On 5 November 1980 a blaze in crypt
Crypt
In architecture, a crypt is a stone chamber or vault beneath the floor of a burial vault possibly containing sarcophagi, coffins or relics....
brought down the chapel floor. It continued to decline, and there were schemes proposed to save it, including for example moving it to Shorne Wood Country Park
Shorne Wood Country Park
Shorne Wood Country Park is in Gravesend, in Kent, England. It was once part of a large estate and then later passed to the council to be used as a country park.-History:This park was once part of the large Cobham Hall Estate...
, or the United States. Fortunately, the original plans exist and in 1946, James Wraight RIBA, photographed and made measured drawings of the building facilitating future restoration. In 2001, Gravesham
Gravesham
Gravesham is a local government district and borough in North West Kent, England. It has borders with the River Thames to the north; the City of Rochester and Medway to the east; the borough of Tonbridge and Malling ; and the boroughs of Sevenoaks and Dartford to the west.Its council is based at...
Council purchased it with funding from the Cobham Ashenbank Trust, with the intention of restoration and eventual transfer to the National Trust
National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty
The National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, usually known as the National Trust, is a conservation organisation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland...
. This is phase one of a larger scheme to restore Cobham Park, and return Cobham Woods to a woodland pasture managed environment.
Design
It was built of Portland stonePortland stone
Portland stone is a limestone from the Tithonian stage of the Jurassic period quarried on the Isle of Portland, Dorset. The quarries consist of beds of white-grey limestone separated by chert beds. It has been used extensively as a building stone throughout the British Isles, notably in major...
, square with projecting chamfered corners, and surmounted by a pyramid. The body is like a classical temple, with Roman Doric order
Doric order
The Doric order was one of the three orders or organizational systems of ancient Greek or classical architecture; the other two canonical orders were the Ionic and the Corinthian.-History:...
, fluted columns in antis on the face, prostyle
Prostyle
Prostyle is an architectural term defining free standing columns across the front of a building, as often in a portico. The term is often used as an adjective when referring to the portico of a classical building which projects from the main structure...
on the angles. There is a flying staircase to the piano nobile
Piano nobile
The piano nobile is the principal floor of a large house, usually built in one of the styles of classical renaissance architecture...
. There are lunette
Lunette
In architecture, a lunette is a half-moon shaped space, either filled with recessed masonry or void. A lunette is formed when a horizontal cornice transects a round-headed arch at the level of the imposts, where the arch springs. If a door is set within a round-headed arch, the space within the...
openings above cornice
Cornice
Cornice molding is generally any horizontal decorative molding that crowns any building or furniture element: the cornice over a door or window, for instance, or the cornice around the edge of a pedestal. A simple cornice may be formed just with a crown molding.The function of the projecting...
. Tomb chests above the angle architraves. On the piano nobile, there is a circular chapel with red marble Corinthian order
Corinthian order
The Corinthian order is one of the three principal classical orders of ancient Greek and Roman architecture. The other two are the Doric and Ionic. When classical architecture was revived during the Renaissance, two more orders were added to the canon, the Tuscan order and the Composite order...
pillars and coffer
Coffer
A coffer in architecture, is a sunken panel in the shape of a square, rectangle, or octagon in a ceiling, soffit or vault...
ed dome of plaster. The basement at lower level held 32 coffin shelves under shallow stone dome.. It is important because of its architect, its situation in parkland
Parkland
Parkland or Parklands may refer to:* A park* Aspen parkland, a biome transitional between prairie and boreal forest * Landscaped parkland, a managed rural area associated with European country houses such as Longleat-Place names:United States...
at predominant position on the North Downs
North Downs
The North Downs are a ridge of chalk hills in south east England that stretch from Farnham in Surrey to the White Cliffs of Dover in Kent. The North Downs lie within two Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty , the Surrey Hills and the Kent Downs...
, and it demonstrates 'the Age of Enlightenment
Age of Enlightenment
The Age of Enlightenment was an elite cultural movement of intellectuals in 18th century Europe that sought to mobilize the power of reason in order to reform society and advance knowledge. It promoted intellectual interchange and opposed intolerance and abuses in church and state...
's preoccupation with a 'classical way of death'.