The Ailesbury Mausoleum

The original mausoleum was built by Thomas Bruce, 1st Earl of Elgin in 1656. The Bruces were an ancient Scottish family, descendants of Robert the Bruce, who came to England when the Scottish King became James I of England. The King gave the Bruces land at Ampthill and Houghton House where they lived from 1624 to 1738. After the death of his second wife, Diana Countess of Oxford, in 1656 the Earl built the mausoleum in Maulden at ground level to hold her memorial and those of other family members, above a crypt which held their coffins. It was one of the first two mausolea built in England.

The original mausoleum was an octagonal building built over the crypt and connected to the church by a corridor which protected the steps down to the crypt.

In 1770, following an inspection, Thomas Brundenel, Lord Bruce, reorganised the crypt by building a wall across it with niches behind to hold the coffins which had previously been left randomly on the floor of the crypt and were suffering badly from decay. Each one was carefully identified and marble plaques with names and dates were set into the wall.

By 1836, the date of the last burial, all the recesses but one contained coffins. In 1857 two coffins were removed to the family vault in Wiltshire, leaving the earlier burials in the Maulden mausoleum, where they are to this day.

In 1858 the Rector of Maulden, the Rev. Charles Ward, put forward plans to rebuild the church which was too small for the local congregation and made very dark by the galleries for extra seating installed on the south and west walls. Contributions to fundraising were received from the Marquis of Ailesbury, the Duke of Bedford and other benefactors, and work to the church, including a new vestry and chancel, rebuilding the tower, raising the roof and the addition of a southern aisle, was completed in 1859. At the same time the mausoleum was also rebuilt with matching materials, slightly further away from the church. The corridor connecting it to the church was never replaced, and the doorway in the church north all was filled with a window. Stone slabs were laid to close the entrance to the crypt. Despite these alterations, the mausoleum is significant, and it is believed to be one of the earliest surviving examples of its kind in England. 

The mausoleum was Grade II listed in 1961 and in the 1970s the Brudenell-Bruce family removed the valuable marble sculptures from the Mausoleum and placed them in their residence at Deene Park in Northamptonshire. In 2001 ownership of the Mausoleum was transferred to Bedfordshire County Council. It has recently been restored with substantial funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund, from EB Bedfordshire Ltd (Landfill Tax) and with small donations from other sources. Replicas of the marble busts have been installed in the mausoleum.

Information taken from The Ailesbury Mausoleum pamphlet produced by St. Mary’s Parish Church.

List of sources at Bedfordshire Archives

• CRT130MAU/1: Notes on the contents of the mausoleum from a report by Rupert Gunnis and Dr Whinney, 1959
• P31/2/41: Faculty to remove the ancient and disused font from the Ailesbury Mausoleum crypt for repair and installation at the new Church of St. Hugh, Lewsey, 1966
• Z368/3/41/6-8: Maulden:  St Mary’s Church.  Black and white prints showing mausoleum, 1980