Cemetery Lodge, Gorleston Old Cemetery, Gorleston-on-Sea, Norfolk

Description

839-1/0/10032 MAGDALEN WAY
06-SEP-10 Gorleston-on-Sea
(West side)
Cemetery Lodge, Gorleston Old Cemetery

GV II
Cemetery gate and lodge of 1879 by J. W. Cockrill (1849-1924) in the Gothic Revival style.

MATERIALS: Red brick with terracotta detailing, a renewed, plain-tile, roof covering and terracotta crest tiles.

PLAN: Integrated lodge and gate, wrapping around the corner of Magdalen Way and Crab Lane.

EXTERIOR: Built in the Gothic Revival style, from the roadside the gateway is single storey and of three bays with a tall, central carriage arch recessed between a pedestrian side gate to the right and the main entrance to the lodge on the left. The carriage and pedestrian entrances retain wrought iron gates, that to the pedestrian entrance appears to be original. Above the three arches, and slightly recessed are panels of decorative brickwork in basket weave bond with columns of moulded brick separating the three compartments. Through the pedestrian entrance, and to the right, is a small triangular shaped recess with wooden benches along one side for shelter and contemplation. Further to the right and accessed from the cemetery side of the gate is a small lodge, with a tall gable stack, for a gardener or groundsman. This has been sympathetically extended along Crab Lane. The main lodge building is incorporated into the gate structure and although some of the terracotta decorative detail of the gateway facade is perpetuated on its road side façade, it is in general a more simple structure and clearly domestic in character. The two-storey lodge is in brick with a tiled roof, although the upper storey is coated in a rough cast render. The windows and rear door are uPVC replacements as is the wooden front door. The courtyard garden to the rear of the lodge is enclosed by a wall pierced by one gateway from the road side of the lodge and another from the cemetery side. A single public convenience is incorporated into the courtyard wall on the cemetery side of the lodge. Internally the lodge has three rooms on each floor although a small bathroom extension was added to the ground floor c1980. One bedroom was converted into a further bathroom more recently. All original panelled doors survive as does the deep skirting but the original fireplaces have been removed or sealed.

HISTORY: The development of Gorleston has been closely linked to that of Great Yarmouth, but in the medieval period the two were separate. Located to the south of Great Yarmouth across the River Yare, the historic core of Gorleston is centred at the junction of the High Street and Baker Street with an Austin Friar's house to the north. Although primarily a fishing village, farming and brewing grew in importance in the C19. As the village of Gorleston expanded northwards, Great Yarmouth extended its reach south of the river and the two settlements are now co-joined. In the late C19 the resort of Gorleston grew to the south where a number of select residential developments, public and semi-public buildings were constructed. Of these, the Pavilion (1901) J. W Cockrill, listed at Grade II, and the Pier Hotel (1893) are notable.

From the 1850's onwards, local authorities began to open municipal cemeteries: often known as Burial Board cemeteries. They came to replace the urban graveyard as the normal place of burial. These were far more numerous than the private cemeteries but echoed their design approaches. Cemetery buildings such as a chapel and lodge have generally been designed to form an integral part of an overall scheme and the ground plan of the cemetery is often by the same hand as the architecture. This certainly applies to Gorleston cemetery which was laid out in 1879 using a design by J. W. Cockrill. The gate lodge was built as part of the first phase but the chapel, also by J.W. Cockrill, was added in 1889.

SOURCES:
Brodie, Allan and Winter, Gary 'England's Seaside Resorts', English Heritage 2007.
Ferry, Kathryn 'Powerhouses of Provincial Architecture 1837-1914' The Victorian Society, 2009 pp.45 -58
Martin, Judith 'Cockrill-Doulton Patent Tiles' www.buildingconservation.com
Pearson, Lynn 'People's Palaces Britain's Seaside Pleasure Buildings' 1991, pp 53-65.
Pevsner, N and Wilson, B 'The Buildings of England: Norfolk 1 Norwich and the North-East' 2nd Ed 1997 pp 488-529
www.pastscape.org.uk, accessed 21st August 2009.

www.gorleston-history.org.uk, accessed 21st August 2009.

REASONS FOR DESIGNATION
The cemetery lodge, Gorleston, (1879) by J. W. Cockrill, is recommended for designation at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

* Architectural Interest: It is a prominent building of red brick and terracotta with carefully executed decorative detailing, forming an impressive entrance to the planned cemetery beyond.
* Historical Association: The designer, J. W. Cockrill was not only born in Gorleston but instigated the Victorian development of both Great Yarmouth and Gorleston, serving for 40 years as Borough Council Surveyor, and has a number of buildings on the List.
* Intactness/Alteration: The cemetery lodge is an integrated structure with a number of original features. The gateway survives largely in its original form, and despite a number of changes to the domestic element of the lodge, it has retained its architectural character.
* Group Value: The gate and lodge are integral to J.W. Cockrill's overall design of the cemetery and hold significant group value with the cemetery chapel and the adjacent war memorial.

Reasons for Listing

The cemetery lodge, Gorleston, (1879) by J. W. Cockrill, is designated at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

External Links

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