Local List of Heritage Assets, 2022 Update

Cemetery Lodge, Northampton Road, Market Harborough

Ref: MH/008

Construction Date: 1877

Architect: Mumford & Townsend

Original Use: Cemetery Lodge

Current Use: Residential

Condition: Good

Occupancy: Occupied

Ward: Market Harborough - Welland

Reason for Inclusion

Historic Interest

The lodge sits at the gates to the municipal cemetery which was laid out to accommodate the needs of the town as it expanded in the 19th Century. The Burial Board was established in 1875 and purchased 4 acres of land for a cemetery which was completed in 1877.

The site represents the expanded role of local government in the late 19th century as rapid industrial expansion left historic infrastructure unable to cope.

Architectural Interest

The Board selected the designs of the Peterborough-based architects Mumford and Townsend. Walter Lindley of Leicester was awarded the tender for the construction of the cemetery lodge and chapels, which were originally due to be built in stone. Lindley was unable to source sufficient stone to complete the work by the November 1877 deadline so it was agreed that they would all be built in brick with stone bands.

Associative interest

Forms a group with the associated surviving chapels and designed landscape of the cemetery (see entries MH/006 and MH/007).