Mortuary Chapel/Cemetery Chapel. Late C19 (c1886). Architect James H Money, builder Henry Botsford. Red brick with tiled roof, rectangular building with three sided apsidal eastern end. There is a brick and timber entry porch on the southern wall, towards the western end of the building, this is constructed in a neo Tudor style, with a tiled pitched roof. There are two sets of Gothic style windows in pairs separated with a lancet along the southern facing wall, single Gothic style windows in the three walls of the apsidal eastern end, and in the western wall a Gothic style window with three panes separated by lancets, and with two oval panes above. There are three brick buttresses along the north wall and two along the south wall (the porch on the western end fills the remaining space). The interior is plain red brick with two decorative black/grey brick horizontal courses every five courses, and a brick dado rail. There is a red tiled floor, and wooden pews are provided. The roof is pitched and timber beamed, there is no ceiling. Designed by James Money in the 1880’s, in use from 1887, and still in use. The chapel stands alone within the cemetery.
The Thatcham cemetery was laid out on land donated from the Dunston House estate. James H Money, a noted local architect, designed the Chapel, which was constructed from local brick and built by Speenhamland builder Henry Botsford in 1887, for a contract of £321 awarded by the Thatcham Burial Board in December 1886. The cemetery opened in September1887, after the closure of the graveyard at the parish church, but was not consecrated until 1888. The Chapel on the site was built as a mortuary chapel, and now holds the Book of Remembrance and memorial plaques. The chapel is very similar in design to St Luke’s Church, Wash Common, also designed by James H Money. The building has been in use as a chapel on the site since its construction, and is still in use today. A service of Remembrance for those who have been buried in the cemetery is held here every year.
James Henry Money (1834-1918) a notable local architect was the brother of the Newbury historian Walter Money. He trained at Cooper & Kent of Gray’s Inn, London. Following his training he joined his father’s Newbury based practice, and took it over by the 1860’s. He was a prolific architect, with a Blue Plaque unveiled to him on Newbury Town Hall, one of many buildings he designed and built.
HER Ref: MWB20779
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