Sir Joseph's grave
Hello all! My boss brought in the Wimbledon local rag a little while back as it had an article about Sir Josephs' grave. Apparently it's pretty fancy but in a state of disrepair, which we Bazalgette's are supposed to sort out. I just wondered whether anyone knew anything about it?
Cheers,
Lee
I thought Peter Bazalgette was involved in raising funds to preserve Sir Joseph's mausoleum in Wimbledon. I might e-mail him to find out what the current position is.
Simon
This work on restoring the mausoleum is being undertaken by the Wimbledon Society - see their website at
http://www.wimbledonsociety.org.uk/
They approached me for help with research and fundraising about a year ago. I made a contribution, as can anyone else who wishes to do so, and referred them to Peter, who I believe also contributed but who is busy enough with the Crossness project.
So they are the people to contact if you are interested.
Best wishes,
Charles
Further to my last posting, you can see a picture of the tomb here:
http://www.stmaryswimbledon.org/history/memorials.html
I have emailed the Wimbledon Society to ask what is happening with this project but haven't had a reply. Perhaps if somebody has a moment they would like to try ringing them. I pointed out in my email that more publicity would be a good thing. As a newspaper article stated, it is ultimately the responsibility of the Bazalgette family to make sure this monument is preserved.
After years of inaction, a very good volunteer has actually done some repairs to the tomb and hopefully this will spark some more interest and even bring in some contributions. The group 28DL makes authorised and unauthorised visits to neglected buildings etc. See the postings here: http://www.28dayslater.co.uk/forums/other-sites/76836-restoration-bazalgettes-tomb-help-needed-dec-2012-a.html
You can register, post and get involved if you want to see progress made.
Nothing coordinated has happened recently but a very kind and nameless volunteer put in a lot of work restoring the railings recently. Pictures and description here: http://www.28dayslater.co.uk/forums/other-sites/76836-restoration-bazalgettes-tomb-help-needed-dec-2012-a.html
I notice from the pictures that someone stole the outer gates since I was last there - presumably for scrap.
We have started a new initiative to try to get something done, as the mausoleum is now in a much worse state. There is a Facebook group at https://www.facebook.com/groups/RestoringBazalgettesTomb/
Please get involved!
A new survey has been completed on the tomb. It looks as if something is happening. The estimated cost of restoration is about 23.000. Once fund-raising starts I hope the family will give as much exposure to the project as they can, and of course do their best to help with funding. This is a recent letter to me:
Dear Charles,
The churchwarden, Liz Broad, and I have undertaken a condition survey of all the monuments in the churchyard. Liz is currently setting up a working party and the survey will inform a project to repair those monuments which need attention. The five monuments which are on the Heritage at Risk Register, including the Bazalgette Mausoleum, will be the priority. Once we have a strategy for the repairs we will start fundraising.
Your interest and input will, Im sure, be very valuable and we will keep you up to date with the progress of the project.
Kind regards,
Keri
---
Keri Dearmer
Historic Churches Support Officer