Small and square, with an octagonal chimney, buttresses, pinnacles, a crenellated parapet and an arched doorway with head-stops. In a word, everything required in a miniature Gothick building. Although much of the stucco has now fallen off exposing the brick beneath, most of the structure still remains intact. Inside there is a fireplace with a Gothick surround, a memorial column dedicated to John Espin, and the floor is laid with octagonal tiles.
Thomas Espin
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Grade II (England and Wales)
1818
After spending some years as a schoolteacher, Thomas Espin (1767-1822) became a topographical artist, antiquarian and amateur architect. In 1805 he oversaw the reconstruction of the belfry windows of Louth Church, and in 1815 was invited by the Corporation to design a new Town Hall, though this was never built. He also provided illustrations for topographical books and wrote, among other things, "A Description of the Mausoleum" in Brocklesbury Park, Lincolnshire (1812). In 1818 he built himself an enchanting Gothick villa in Louth with a small summerhouse in the garden where he could sit and work. After his death in 1822 the summerhouse became his mausoleum.
Poor. Although the owner has recently had it re-roofed, a great deal more work is required to put the building back into good condition (2002).
BoE: Lincs (1989), 544;
None
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The Priory Hotel (in the garden)
Eastgate
Louth
Lincolnshire
LN11 9AJ
England