Greer Mausoleum

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

A single-storey mausoleum constructed of cut stone in a neo-classical style, in the form of a windowless rectangular chamber with battered sides, wide overhanging Egyptian style cornice, and a double-stepped flat roof surmounted by a broad obelisk to the rear of the platform with a sarcophagus mounted on a small podium in front of it.

It stands in Desertcreat Parish Church churchyard, in a very rural locality. A short distance to the north stands Desertcreat Parish Church and a short distance to the south-east stands the Lowry Mausoleum.

The entrance faces north, in the centre of the front elevation. Walling is of ashlar standstone, with a projecting plinth, a projecting plain frieze and coved cornice surmounted by two stepped blocking courses. The doorway contains a rectangular four-panelled cast iron door set in a moulded and lugged surround with a battered profile to the outer edge of the jambs in classical Greek style. The obelisk is constructed of ashlar sandstone with a shallow pyramidal top, while the sarcophagus appears to be cut from a monolithic block.

The side walls and rear wall are similar to the front but each contain a central blind rectangular recess with plain reveals but the head cut into the stone block above. The ground slopes to the rear to reveal a rubble masonry base to the plinth.

Historical information

The precise date of building is not recorded but stylistically it dates from around 1840. It was built by Thomas Greer of Tullylagan House. It was reportedly last used for an internment in 1907.

References – Secondary Sources
1. A.J. Rowan, The Buildings of Ireland: North-West Ulster (Harmondsworth, 1979), p 229.
2. UAHS, Dungannon and Cookstown (Belfast, 1971), p 44.
3. J.S. Curl, Mausolea in Ulster (UAHS, Belfast, 1978), pp 12-14.

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

A. Style
B. Proportion
C. Ornamentation
D. Plan Form
J. Setting
K. Group value

Criteria for listing: historic interest

V. Authorship
X. Local Interest
Z. Rarity

Evaluation

This is a very good and intact example of an early Victorian mausoleum in a neo-classical style, and a rare example of its type in Northern Ireland displaying an unusual mixture of neo-Egyptian and neo-Greek detailing.
It enjoys a pleasant rural churchyard setting and with another mausoleum and the parish church nearby it forms part of an interesting group.