Frogmore Mausoleum

Information about Frogmore Mausoleum

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The Frogmore Estate or Gardens comprise 33 acres of private gardens within the grounds of the Home Park, adjoining Windsor Castle, in the English county of Berkshire.

It is the location of Frogmore House, a Royal retreat. It is also the site of the Royal Mausoleum containing the grave of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert; the Duchess of Kent's Mausoleum, burial place of the former's mother, Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld; and the Royal burial ground. The name derives from the preponderance of frogs which have always lived in this low-lying and marshy area.

Frogmore House

Main article: Frogmore House
Frogmore House was built in the 1680s and purchased by King George III as a country retreat for Queen Charlotte in 1792. Earl Mountbatten of Burma was born there.

The Duchess of Kent's Mausoleum

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Mausoleum of the Duchess of Kent.
This beautiful mausoleum within the Frogmore Gardens is the burial place of Queen Victoria's mother, Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, the Duchess of Kent. The Mausoleum was designed by the architect, A J Humbert, to a concept design by Prince Albert's favourite artist, Professor Ludwig Gruner.

In the latter years of her life, the Duchess lived in Frogmore House and in the 1850s, construction began on a beautiful domed 'temple' in the grounds of the estate. The top portion of the finished building was intended to serve as a summer-house for the Duchess during her lifetime, while the lower level was destined as her final resting place. The Duchess died at Frogmore House on 16 March 1861 before the summer-house was completed so the upper chamber became part of the mausoleum and now contains a statue of the Duchess.

Royal Mausoleum (or 'Frogmore Mausoleum')

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Mausoleum of Queen Victoria & Prince Albert.
The second mausoleum in the grounds of Frogmore, just a short distance from the Duchess of Kent's Mausoleum is the very much larger Royal Mausoleum, the burial place of Queen Victoria and her consort, Prince Albert.

Queen Victoria and her husband had long intended to construct a special resting place for them both, instead of the two of them being buried in one of the traditional resting places of British Royalty, such as Westminster Abbey or St. George's Chapel, Windsor. The mausoleum for the Queen's mother was being constructed at Frogmore in 1861 when Prince Albert died in December of the same year. Within a few days of his premature death, proposals for the mausoleum were being drawn up by the same designers involved in the Duchess of Kent's Mausoleum: Professor Grunner and A J Humbert.

Work commenced in March 1862. The dome was made by October and the building was consecrated in December 1862, although the decoration was not finished until August, 1871.

The building is in the form of a Greek cross. The exterior was inspired by Italian Romanesque buildings, the walls are of granite and Portland stone and the roof is covered with Australian copper. The interior decoration is in the style of Albert's favourite painter, the Renaissance genius Raphael, an example of Victoriana at its most opulent. The interior walls are predominantly in Portuguese red marble, a gift from the King Luis of Portugal, a cousin of both Victoria and Albert, and are inlaid with other marbles from around the World.

The monumental tomb itself was designed by Baron Carlo Marochetti. It features recumbent marble effigies of the Queen and Prince Albert. The sarcophagus was made from a single piece of flawless grey Aberdeen granite. The queen's effigy was made at the same time, but was not put in the mausoleum until after her funeral.

Only Victoria and Albert are interred there, but the mausoleum contains other memorials. Among those is a charming monument to Princess Alice, Grand Duchess of Hesse (1843-1878), Victoria's second daughter, who died of diphtheria shortly after her youngest daughter May (1874-1878). In the centre of the chapel is a monument to Edward, Duke of Kent, Victoria's father. He died in 1820 and is buried in St George's Chapel, Windsor. One of the strangest sculptures is that of the Queen and consort in Anglo-Saxon costume. Albert is speaking. Victoria looks up at him in adoration.

Royal burial ground

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Royal Burial Ground
Main article: Royal Burial Ground
Except for sovereigns, since 1928, most members of the royal family have been interred in the royal burial ground or cemetery behind Queen Victoria's mausoleum. Among those interred there are three of Victoria's children, Princess Helena of the United Kingdom; Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn; and Princess Louise, Duchess of Argyll. It is also the resting place of Queen Maria of Yugoslavia (1900-1961), granddauther of Queen Victoria and wife of King Alexander I of Yugoslavia, Prince William of Gloucester (1941-1972) and his parents Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester and Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester; Prince George, Duke of Kent and Princess Marina, Duchess of Kent, the Duke of Windsor (1894-1972), who reigned as King Edward VIII before abdication; and his Duchess, Wallis Simpson (1896-1986). Princess Alice, Countess of Athlone and the Earl of Athlone and their children Viscount Trematon and Lady May Abel Smith and spouse, Sir Henry Abel Smith, are also buried there.

Other garden features

Also within the grounds lie various garden buildings and monuments, including the 'Gothic Ruin' (1793), 'Queen Victoria's Tea House' (a brick pavilion building of 1869) and the 'Indian Kiosk' commemorating the end of the Indian Mutiny (1858).
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Indian Kiosk.

Public access

The house, gardens and Royal mausoleum are usually open to the public upon about six individual days each year, usually around Easter and the August Bank Holiday. The mausoleum is also open on the Wednesday nearest Queen Victoria's birthday, 24 May. The Royal burial ground may be viewed from around its perimeter on the days that the gardens are open to the public. The Duchess of Kent's mausoleum may also be viewed externally, but is never open to the public.

See also

External links

The Home Park, previously known as the Little Park (and originally Lydecroft Park), is a private 655 acre British Royal park, administered by the Crown Estate.
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Windsor Castle, in Windsor in the English county of Berkshire, is the largest inhabited castle in the world and, dating back to the time of William the Conqueror, is the oldest in continuous occupation.
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"God and my right"
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No official anthem specific to England — the anthem of the United Kingdom is "God Save the Queen".
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Berkshire

Shown within England
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Origin Historic
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Frogmore House is a 17th century country house standing at the centre of the Frogmore Estate, amongst beautiful gardens, about a kilometre south of Windsor Castle in the Home Park at Windsor in the English county of Berkshire. It is a Grade I listed building.
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Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837, and the first Empress of India from 1 May 1876, until her death on 22 January 1901.
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Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (Francis Augustus Charles Albert Emanuel, later HRH The Prince Consort of the United Kingdom) (26 August 1819 – 14 December 1861) was the husband and consort of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and
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Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld (Mary Louise Victoria; 17 August 1786 – 16 March 1861), later HRH The Duchess of Kent, was the mother of Queen Victoria.
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cemetery is a place in which dead bodies and cremated remains are buried. The term cemetery (from Greek κοιμητήριον: sleeping place) implies that the land is specifically designated as a burying ground.
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Frogmore House is a 17th century country house standing at the centre of the Frogmore Estate, amongst beautiful gardens, about a kilometre south of Windsor Castle in the Home Park at Windsor in the English county of Berkshire. It is a Grade I listed building.
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Frogmore House is a 17th century country house standing at the centre of the Frogmore Estate, amongst beautiful gardens, about a kilometre south of Windsor Castle in the Home Park at Windsor in the English county of Berkshire. It is a Grade I listed building.
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Louis Francis Albert Victor Nicholas George Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma, KG, GCB, OM, GCSI, GCIE, GCVO, DSO, PC (25 June 1900–27 August 1979) was a British admiral and statesman and an uncle of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.
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mausoleum (plural: mausolea) is an external free-standing building constructed as a monument enclosing the interment space or burial chamber of a deceased person or persons.
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Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld (Mary Louise Victoria; 17 August 1786 – 16 March 1861), later HRH The Duchess of Kent, was the mother of Queen Victoria.
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Albert Jenkins Humbert ("A.J. Humbert") (1822-1877) was an architect particularly favoured by Prince Albert.

Amongst the buildings he is particularly associated with are Sandringham House and nearby Whippingham Church and both the Duchess of Kent's Mausoleum and the
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Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837, and the first Empress of India from 1 May 1876, until her death on 22 January 1901.
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Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (Francis Augustus Charles Albert Emanuel, later HRH The Prince Consort of the United Kingdom) (26 August 1819 – 14 December 1861) was the husband and consort of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and
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Albert Jenkins Humbert ("A.J. Humbert") (1822-1877) was an architect particularly favoured by Prince Albert.

Amongst the buildings he is particularly associated with are Sandringham House and nearby Whippingham Church and both the Duchess of Kent's Mausoleum and the
..... Click the link for more information.
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