About the Corsellis family vault in Wivenhoe's Old Cemetery
Last opened on 19th May 2016
Peter Hill
The entrance to the vault which is ordinarily covered by a huge slab of slate.
Photo by Peter Hill
The final resting place of some 15 Corsellis family members inside the family vault in the Old Cemetery
Photo by Peter Hill
Coffins in the Corsellis family vaults. Note the urns on the left hand coffin.
Picture by Peter Hill
The Corsellis family monument
Photo by Peter Hill
The Corsellis family monument
Photo by Peter Hill
The Corsellis family monument
Photo by Peter Hill
One side of the Corsellis family monument
Photo by Peter Hill
The Corsellis family monument in the Old Cemetery, Wivenhoe
Photo by Peter Hill
The Corsellis family monument has stood regally in the middle of Wivenhoe’s Old Cemetery since the Cemetery was opened in the mid-1800s.
It was opened for the first time for a very long time on 19th May 2016 to receive the cremated remains of David Corsellis Heal who had lived in London.
The Corsellis family at one time owned Wivenhoe Hall (acquired from the Townshend family in 1657) with substantial holdings of land in Wivenhoe. This included that area we know today as the King George V playing field and all of the land above the Park Hotel on either side of what is now The Avenue but then little more than a cart track to The Cross.
Time period
This page was added on 12/08/2016.
Comments about this page
From looking at the photos in some detail, the coffin with the ‘white’ plate on it is that of Nicholas Caesar Corsellis Lawton, born in York on 17 February 1840, died at Wivenhoe Hall on 2 August 1881.
The coffin with the yellow lamp resting on it is that of his daughter, born in Thirk in 1872, Georgiana Annie Corsellis Lawton. She married Edward Herbert Squire,FRCS, LSA, at Elmstead on 7 September 1892 and died on 3 October 1954.
Thanks Chris as ever.
Peter Hill
For the past 30 years I often spoke to David Corsellis Heal as he used to ring me to enquire how the vault was. He often joked about his own funeral and particularly asked me to be there when his ashes were placed in the vault. I had photographed the vault when it was opened in 1979 and sent him the photos which he was pleased to receive. It was a privilege therefore to meet his brother who placed David’s ashes in the vault early this year.
Antoinette Stinson Town Clerk
October 2016
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