Cockersand Abbey chapter house is a

mausoleum A mausoleum is an external free-standing building constructed as a monument enclosing the interment space or burial chamber of a deceased person or people. A mausoleum without the person's remains is called a cenotaph. A mausoleum may be consid ...

in the English village of Thurnham,

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancashi ...

. A

Grade I listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

building and formerly part of

Cockersand Abbey Cockersand Abbey is a former abbey and former civil parish near Cockerham in the City of Lancaster district of Lancashire, England. It is situated near the mouth of the River Cocker. History It was founded before 1184 as the Hospital of St Mar ...

, it dates to 1230. It was used as a family

by the Daltons of

Thurnham Hall Thurnham Hall is a grade-I-listed 17th-century country house in the village of Thurnham, Lancashire, England some 10 km (6 miles) south of Lancaster. The present building is a three-storey stone-built house probably built in the 17th centur ...

during the 18th and 19th centuries. The land was acquired by the Daltons shortly after 1556, when Robert Dalton married Ann Kitchen. Cockersand Abbey has existed from the late 12th century. The building is constructed of red

sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates) ...

rubble and has a

slate Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade regional metamorphism. It is the finest grained foliated metamorphic rock. ...

roof. Its plan is octagonal although the west side has been squared off. At some point (probably the mid-18th century) it was converted into a family burial chamber. Hartwell & Pevsner (2009), pp. 249–51

References

;Sources * Grade I listed buildings in Lancashire 1230 establishments in England Mausoleums in England {{UK-listed-building-stub

See also

References