(Click photos to enlarge).The Dashwood Mausoleum, built in 1765, is a vast monument constructed of Portland stone and flint. Sitting at the summit of West Wycombe Hill in Buckinghamshire (which is also the site of an Iron Age Hill Fort), the mausoleum houses the urns containing the ashes of the Dashwood family, the most notorious of which was Sir Francis Dashwood, 15th Baron le Despencer (1708-1782).
Behind the imposing hexagonal structure of the mausoleum sits St Lawrence Church (below). The church tower is very oddly topped off by a golden sphere, which apparently is big enough to hold up to eight people, and is said to have been formerly used for secret meetings.
Of course, beneath all this and inside West Wycombe Hill itself are The Hellfire Caves which are possibly worthy of their own blog entry.
The following is a short music video that I made using stills and footage captured during this visit:
Date visited: 16 August 2008
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West Wycombe Park and House is also well worth a visit. The house is guided tour only, but the gardens are amazing with lots of strange temples and ornamental bridges like something out of the Labyrinth movie (without David Bowie though).
ReplyDeleteMust go and see this thanks
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