Bazalgette Mausoleum

The Sir Joseph Bazalgette Mausoleum is a Grade II listed structure currently on Historic England’s Heritage-at-Risk Register.^[1] It stands in the grounds of St Mary's Church, Wimbledon, in the London Borough of Merton.^[2] The mausoleum is the final resting place of the noted Victorian engineer Sir Joseph Bazalgette and many members of his family.

It was built circa 1804 for John Anthony Rucker, a local merchant trader, businessman and slave-owner based at West Hill House, East Putney.^[3] Bazalgette acquired the mausoleum for his family towards the end of the 19th century as the churchyard was full.^[4]

Architecture

The mausoleum in neo-classical style made of Portland stone.^[5] It consists of a rusticated base with decorated archway to the vault which has space for nine coffins. An obelisk sits atop the base, stating the names of the Bazalgette family interred there.^[6] It is believed the obelisk was an addition by Sir Joseph Bazalgette.^[7]

The mausoleum was built by Jesse Gibson, a architect based in Hackney, for John Anthony Rucker who died in 1804.^[8] Gibson was based in the City of London and is known for having rebuilt the now demolished St Peter le Poer in Broad Street,^[9] Vintner’s Company almshouses on Mile End Road and Saddlers Hall in Cheapside.^[10][11] Gibson also built West Hill House, in East Putney, for John Anthony Rucker (now the Royal Hospital for Neuro-Disability).^[12][13]

Sir Joseph Bazalgette

Sir Joseph Bazalgette (1819-1891) was an eminent engineer, known for large infrastructural improvement that improved the sanitation of Victorian London.^[14] As the Chief Engineer for the Metropolitan Board of Works from 1856, Bazalgette was responsible for resolving the ‘Great Stink’ of 1858.^[15] His sewerage system helped to rid London of pollution and waterborne diseases such as cholera and typhoid.^[16] Crossness and Abbey Mills Pumping Stations were created as part of these designs.

Bazalgette created several bridges across the Thames, and designed the Victoria, Albert and Chelsea embankments. A memorial to Bazalgette by George Blackall Simonds is located on the Victoria Embankment, by the Hungerford Bridge.^[17]

Sir Joseph Bazalgette died on 15 March 1891.^[18] He is interred in the mausoleum alongside his wife Maria and five of their children.

John Anthony Rucker

Joseph Anthony Rucker was a merchant originally from Hamburg.^[19] He bought property in South London including the West Hill estate and the Wandle Villa in the late eighteenth century.^[20] He owned slave estates in Grenada, Curacao and St Vincent, and was a witness for the 1789-90 Committee on the Slave Trade.^[21] Rucker’s estates and property were inherited by his nephew, Daniel Henry Rucker.^[22]

When Sir Joseph Bazalgette bought the mausoleum for his family towards the end of the 19th century, the tomb had been unattended for 84 years.^[23]

Heritage

The mausoleum has been placed on Historic England’s Heritage-at-Risk Register due to internal collapse due to water ingress.^[24] The iron gates in front of the steps leading down to the vault are also missing.

Habitats & Heritage, a south-west London based charity, are currently working with the church to restore the mausoleum.^[25]

References

51°25′43″N 0°12′37″W / 51.42868°N 0.21021°W / 51.42868; -0.21021