mausoleum

Freestanding single-bay single-stage mausoleum, dated 1785, on a square plan. Granite ashlar pyramidal roof centred on inscribed sarcophagus ("1785"). Rusticated granite ashlar walls on overgrown plinth with cut-granite stringcourse. Set in landscaped grounds of a slightly elevated site.

A mausoleum erected by Ralph Howard (1726-86), first Viscount Wicklow of Shelton Abbey (see 16404005), representing an important component of the later eighteenth-century built heritage of County Wicklow with the architectural value of the composition, one attributed to Simon Vierpyl (c.1725-1810) of Dublin and London, confirmed by such attributes as the compact square plan form; the construction in a silver-grey granite demonstrating good quality workmanship; and the eye-catching pyramidal silhouette recalling the later Aldborough Mausoleum (1832) in Baltinglass (see 16316022). NOTE: A sarcophagus is inscribed: "Within the walls of the adjoining Church lie interr'd the Remains of M. Dorothea Howard otherwise Hassels Relict of John Howard Esq. Who Departed this Life at Shelton in December 1684 to Whose Memory and that of their Descendants and as a place of Burial for his Family Ralph Viscount Wicklow has caused this Monument to be Erected in the year of our Lord 1785".