Duchess of Kent's Mausoleum

Duchess of Kent's Mausoleum
The Duchess of Kent's Mausoleum in 2006
LocationFrogmore, Windsor Home Park, Surrey, England
Coordinates51°28′26″N 0°35′48″W / 51.47380°N 0.59674°W / 51.47380; -0.59674
Built1861
ArchitectA. J. Humbert
Architectural style(s)Neoclassical
Governing bodyCrown Estate
Listed Building – Grade I
Official nameDuchess of Kent's Mausoleum
Designated2 October 1975[1]
Reference no.1117780
Duchess of Kent's Mausoleum is located in Berkshire
Duchess of Kent's Mausoleum
Location of Duchess of Kent's Mausoleum in Berkshire

The Duchess of Kent's Mausoleum is a mausoleum for Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, Duchess of Kent, the mother of Queen Victoria. It is situated in Frogmore Gardens in the Home Park, Windsor. It was listed Grade I on the National Heritage List for England in October 1975.[1] The bridge leading to the island from the mausoleum is listed Grade II.[2]

The Duchess spent the last years of her life at Frogmore House and the top part of the structure was originally intended as a summer house, with the lower level of the structure to be the site of her interment.[3] The Duchess had originally expressed a desire to be buried in the mausoleum of her brother, Ernest I, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, in the now Bavarian town of Coburg.[4] The Duchess died at Frogmore House on 16 March 1861 before the summer-house was completed so the upper chamber became part of the mausoleum and now contains a statue of the Duchess by William Theed completed in 1864. It was completed in July 1861 following the Duchess's death in March.[5] The Duchess's body lay at St George's Chapel in Windsor before being interred in the mausoleum in a granite sarcophagus in August 1861.[5]

The mausoleum was consecrated in July 1861 by Samuel Wilberforce, the Bishop of Oxford, assisted by the Rev Gerald Wellesley, the Dean of Windsor, the Rev Charles Leslie Courtenay, the Canon of Windsor, the Rev J. St. John Blunt, Chaplain to Albert, Prince Consort, and the Vicar of Old Windsor, the Rev H. J. Ellison, Chaplain at Windsor Castle and Vicar of New Windsor, and the Rev Charles Loyd, the Vicar of Great Hampden.[6]

  1. ^ a b Historic England, "Mausoleum of the Duchess of Kent (1117780)", National Heritage List for England, retrieved 31 March 2020
  2. ^ Historic England, "Bridge from island leading to Duchess of Kent's Mausoleum (1319267)", National Heritage List for England, retrieved 31 March 2020
  3. ^ Jane Roberts (1997). Royal Landscape: The Gardens and Parks of Windsor. Yale University Press. p. 233. ISBN 978-0-300-07079-8.
  4. ^ "Duchess of Kents Mausoleum - The Mausolea & Monuments Trust". The Mausolea & Monuments Trust. Retrieved 1 April 2020.
  5. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference Rappaport2003 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ "The Duchess of Kent's Mausoleum". The Times. 31 July 1861. p. 8. Retrieved 2 April 2020 – via The Times Digital Archive.