Listed Building

The only legal part of the listing under the Planning (Listing Buildings and Conservation Areas) (Scotland) Act 1997 is the address/name of site. Addresses and building names may have changed since the date of listing – see 'About Listed Buildings' below for more information. The further details below the 'Address/Name of Site' are provided for information purposes only.

Address/Name of Site

VICARSFORD CEMETERY CHAPELLB8863

Status: Designated

Documents

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Summary

Category
A
Group Category Details
100000020 - (See Notes)
Date Added
17/10/1973
Supplementary Information Updated
11/05/2010
Local Authority
Fife
Planning Authority
Fife
Parish
Leuchars
NGR
NO 43870 25719
Coordinates
343870, 725719

Description

T M Cappon, 1895-7. Tall 4-bay, buttressed, rectangular-plan chapel in 13th Century French Gothic style with 3-bay curved apse and copper roof with ornate fleche. Entrance porch to E with carved ship panel and porch to W linked to small, gabled 3-bay, buttressed, open cloistered, vaulted arcade with traceried 3-light openings and lavishly crocketed buttress pinnacles. Bi-partite, pointed arched windows with quatrefoils to apex and moulded surrounds punctuated by shouldered, gabletted buttresses capped by gargoyles carved by James Bremner. Large 4-light, quatrefoil, traceried window to N gable with tripartite round arched ventilator detail to tympanum and carved stone cross finial to apex. Grey snecked rubble masonry with ashlar detailing. Stepped base course, blind trefoil bracketed eaves course with plain band course over. Prominently sited in hill top position overlooking large contemporary rectangular-plan cemetery.

Coloured square and multi-pane glazing pattern in leaded windows. Green copper roof with saddleback stone skews and gabletted skewputts. Cast iron rainwater goods.

INTERIOR: vaulted and ribbed, cream coloured, Caen stone ceiling and walls to interior.

Statement of Special Interest

B-Group with Vicarsford Cemetery, Lodge, Boundary Walls, Gates Gatepiers and Railings. Vicarsford Chapel is a fine and rare example of a small ecclesiastical building type with fine stone detailing and very prominently sited within a designed hillside cemetery of the same date. It was built as the Memorial to Lady Leng with the Saint-Chapelle, Paris as the main inspiration, and shows fine 13th century French Gothic references throughout the stonework, including the carved stone gargoyles by James Bremner.

The cemetery chapel is a very unusual building type in Scotland, only a few other non-denominational cemetery chapels are known of, the Hyndford Chapel in Lanark and the Mortuary Chapel in the Western Cemetery in Arbroath (both also category A-listed). Comparative building types are 18th and 19th century burial vaults and crematoria which become prevalent from the 1930s onwards.

The architect Thomas Martin Cappon (1863-1939) was a local architect who having articled in the area started a practice in Dundee in 1886. The majority of his earlier works were churches, of which Vicarsford is a fine example, before moving on to work on schools and private houses later on in his career. His known body of work is confined to Dundee and the Fife area. He was instrumental in setting up the Architecture department in Dundee Technical College.

The Cemetery was laid out in 1890 and it is thought Cappon was also involved in the design of this and the Vicarsford Cemetery Lodge with the gatepiers walls and railings which are listed separately (see separate listing).

The Chapel was upgraded from B to A in 2010.

References

Bibliography

John Gifford, Buildings of Scotland, Fife (1992) p422. 3rd Edition Ordnance Survey Map (1924). Dictionary of Scottish Architects (www.scottisharchitects.org.uk, viewed Jan 2010).

About Listed Buildings

Historic Environment Scotland is responsible for designating sites and places at the national level. These designations are Scheduled monuments, Listed buildings, Inventory of gardens and designed landscapes and Inventory of historic battlefields.

We make recommendations to the Scottish Government about historic marine protected areas, and the Scottish Ministers decide whether to designate.

Listing is the process that identifies, designates and provides statutory protection for buildings of special architectural or historic interest as set out in the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) (Scotland) Act 1997.

We list buildings which are found to be of special architectural or historic interest using the selection guidance published in Designation Policy and Selection Guidance (2019)

Listed building records provide an indication of the special architectural or historic interest of the listed building which has been identified by its statutory address. The description and additional information provided are supplementary and have no legal weight.

These records are not definitive historical accounts or a complete description of the building(s). If part of a building is not described it does not mean it is not listed. The format of the listed building record has changed over time. Earlier records may be brief and some information will not have been recorded.

The legal part of the listing is the address/name of site which is known as the statutory address. Other than the name or address of a listed building, further details are provided for information purposes only. Historic Environment Scotland does not accept any liability for any loss or damage suffered as a consequence of inaccuracies in the information provided. Addresses and building names may have changed since the date of listing. Even if a number or name is missing from a listing address it will still be listed. Listing covers both the exterior and the interior and any object or structure fixed to the building. Listing also applies to buildings or structures not physically attached but which are part of the curtilage (or land) of the listed building as long as they were erected before 1 July 1948.

While Historic Environment Scotland is responsible for designating listed buildings, the planning authority is responsible for determining what is covered by the listing, including what is listed through curtilage. However, for listed buildings designated or for listings amended from 1 October 2015, legal exclusions to the listing may apply.

If part of a building is not listed, it will say that it is excluded in the statutory address and in the statement of special interest in the listed building record. The statement will use the word 'excluding' and quote the relevant section of the 1997 Act. Some earlier listed building records may use the word 'excluding', but if the Act is not quoted, the record has not been revised to reflect subsequent legislation.

Listed building consent is required for changes to a listed building which affect its character as a building of special architectural or historic interest. The relevant planning authority is the point of contact for applications for listed building consent.

Find out more about listing and our other designations at www.historicenvironment.scot/advice-and-support. You can contact us on 0131 668 8914 or at designations@hes.scot.

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