19th century chapel at Braintree Cemetery (EHER 48159)

Braintree Cemetery opened in the mid 19th century. There is a chapel and a lodge. The chapel was built in 1856 by John Johnson who also designed the lodge. The chapel is constructed of red brick with a slate roof covering; it was remodelled in the late 20th century.

Original HER entry merged with NRHE data import: March 2012. Listing consideration. The chapel at Braintree Cemetery is described by Pevsner (Buildings of England: Essex, 2007) as a double chapel of 1856 by John Johnson of Bury St Edmunds, who also designed the main cemetery lodge at the London Road entrance, rebuilt in c. 1950. The northern chapel is no longer in use and was remodelled in the late 20th or early 21st century to form toilet facilities. Additional doorways have been inserted from the north porch and internally, the space has been subdivided into cubicles. Part of the original chapel space at the west end is now used for storage. A disabled access ramp was constructed leading to the porch of the south chapel in the late 20th century and the leaded light windows were replaced. It is constructed of red brick with stone dressings and has slate coverings to the roofs. A symmetrical building with two chapels aligned east-west under separate gables, each with projecting, entrance porches beneath a shared cross-gable. At the principal east elevation, the two chapels share a central projecting porch with shouldered buttresses, which has a pointed-arch entrance with a crocketed hoodmould. The porch is surmounted by a two-stage, brick and stone steeple with lancet openings. The east end of each chapel has a triple lancet window with tracery and a cusped trefoil, framed in a stone surround with a segmental brick head. The lights are leaded. Each gable has a stone finial and a trefoil opening in the apex. To the west (rear), each chapel is accessed from a central, canted porch with a slated roof, which presumably served as a vestry. The west end of each chapel has the same window treatment as the east. The north and south elevations have the same arrangement comprising a projecting entrance porch with two lancets to the east. Both porches have a pointed-arch opening with a stone surround and crocketed hoodmoulds. Above is a small, pointed-arch opening with three, cusped, stone trefoils. Each gable has a stone finial and a trefoil opening in the apex. The south chapel has plain wooden pews and at the east end, the simply carved wooden altar rests on a low, tiled dais. All other freestanding furniture is similarly plain. The ceiling is constructed of timber, the arched braces resting on stone corbels. The north chapel is out of use and has been largely converted into toilet facilities. <1>