DASHWOODS MAUSOLEUM.

We had the grandchildren for a sleep over last night. They we're very good and we played games and went for a walk in the wood. It's cold today and windy but the sun is out so I took myself off to West Wycombe to take some photos. My Blip is the mausoleum which is an unroofed hexagonal structure, formed by a series of linked triumphal arches. There is no obvious precedent for such a design save, perhaps, that of a Scottish ‘lair’ or sepulchral enclosure. In the centre stands a pedestal and urn dedicated to Dashwood’s wife, Lady le Despenser (d.1769); a wall plaque commemorates his mother (d.1710) and stepmother (d.1719); and three inscriptions in the frieze refer to Dashwood himself, his friend, Dodington, and his uncle, the 7th Earl of Westmorland. There is also an urn containing the heart of the poet, Paul Whitehead, and there used to be busts of the painter Giuseppe Borgnis and Dr Thompson (doctor to Frederick, Prince of Wales) in niches in the walls