Hannen Columbarium
| Hannen Columbarium | |
|---|---|
 The Hannen Columbarium in Wargrave | |
  Location within Berkshire | |
General information | |
| Location | Wargrave, Berkshire, England |
| Coordinates | 51°29′58″N 0°52′24″W / 51.49948°N 0.87339°W |
| Year built | 1906–07 |
| Design and construction | |
| Architect | Edwin Lutyens |
Listed Building – Grade II* | |
Official name | Mausoleum, 22 metres south west of Church of St Mary |
| Designated | 23 December 1983 |
| Reference no. | 1155027 |
The Hannen Columbarium is a columbarium mausoleum – a resting place for the cremated remains of the deceased – built for the Hannen family of Wargrave, Berkshire, England and designed by Edwin Lutyens.
Columbarium
[edit]Lutyens became acquainted with the Hannen family in about 1897 and from 1902 to 1905 employed Nicholas Hannen as an architectural trainee.[1]
The Hannen Columbarium was built in 1906–07 to house the ashes of Nicholas's father, Sir Nicholas Hannen, a barrister, diplomat and judge who died in Shanghai in 1900.
Lutyens was commissioned in 1905, and produced a columbarium design combining Byzantine Revival with Arts and Crafts and with classical architectural lines, in the form of a 12-foot (3.7 m) square building of red-brick, red-tile, glass-tile and stonework, sited in the south-east of the graveyard of St Mary's Church, Wargrave.[2][3] Within – in Lutyens's words – is "a circular cella within four piers, which carry intersecting arches forming pendentives and completed by a saucer dome."[1] The cella is decorated with text from Luke, chapter 20, verse 38: 'He Is Not The God Of The Dead But Of The Living For All Live Unto Him'.[1][2]
The Columbarium is a Grade II* listed building.[4] It was restored in 1985, but concerns exist as to its condition.[1] It forms Lutyens's earliest mausoleum design, and (with Heathcote in Ilkley), is recognised as an embodiment of the point at which he fully incorporated classical architecture in his designs.[1]
Interments
[edit]The following individuals are interred in the Columbarium:
- Sir Nicholas John Hannen (1842–1900)
- Lady Hannen (the former Miss Jessie Woodhouse)
- Nicholas "Beau" Hannen (Sir Nicholas' son) (1881–1972)
- Athene Seyler, Beau Hannen's wife (1889–1990)
See also
[edit]- Grade II* listed buildings in Berkshire
- Wargrave War Memorial, also designed by Lutyens
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d e "Byzantium in Berkshire". Apollo - The International Art Magazine. Press Holdings Media Group Ltd. 1 April 2005. Retrieved 5 April 2016.
- ^ a b "Hannen Mausoleum". The Mausolea and Monuments Trust. Retrieved 5 April 2016.
- ^ Pearson, Lynn F. (2008). Mausoleums. Osprey Publishing. ISBN 978-0-7478-0518-2. Retrieved 5 April 2016.
- ^ Historic England. "Mausoleum, 22 metres south west of Church of St Mary (1155027)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 13 August 2025.