Ongley Mausoleum

Tucked away in the corner of the churchyard and surrounded by trees, this is a charming mausoleum despite, or because of, the mixture of styles.

Square in plan with a pyramidal roof having corner pilasters surmounted by urn finials at parapet level. Oval window opes to each elevation (centered) having quarto-foil tracery and coloured lights. Gothick entrance porch having crenelated parapet and pointed-arch doorway. Enclosed by railings. A total of 42 loculi to interior, only ten of which are filled.

Architect

Not known

Style

Gothic Revival

Listing

Grade II (England and Wales)

Year built

1790

History

The mausoleum was built following the death of Robert Henley (d.1787) who had been made 1st Lord Ongley in 1776. He was nephew and heir of the South Sea Company speculator, Sir Samuel Ongley of Old Warden (d.1747) whose monument, designed by Scheemakers, is in the church. Robert Henley’s wife was buried in the mausoleum in 1799, the 2nd Lord Ongley in 1814, and the last interment was in 1877, the family having left Old Warden in 1871. In 1981 the building was restored by the PCC with the help of grants from the Bedfordshire County Council, Civic Trust and Leche Trust.

Condition

In good condition (2008).

Sources

Unpublished English Heritage report by Roger Bowdler (1998);

church handbook.

Bedford Borough Council. (2008). Ongley Family. Available: http://www.bedfordshire.gov.uk/CommunityAndLiving/ArchivesAndRecordOffice/CommunityArchives/OldWarden/TheOngleyFamily.aspx. Last accessed 15th March 2015.