For a listed building with 200 years of history that is the only one of its kind in Nottinghamshire, the Milton Mausoleum is easy to miss. Located off the A1 at Markham Moor, thousands of drivers every day will perhaps unknowingly be within touching distance of a monument with connections to one of the area's most prestigious historical families.
A mausoleum is defined as a monument containing the internment space or burial chamber of a deceased person or people, and Milton's pays tribute to Georgiana, the fourth Duchess of Newcastle. The monument was built by Georgiana's husband, the fourth Duke of Newcastle and the former Lieutenant of Nottinghamshire, Henry Pelham-Clinton.
Volunteers who have been crucial in caring for the building in recent years are now preparing to mark the 200th anniversary of Georgiana's death. It marks a significant milestone for a monument that has had something of a chequered history, with the 1980s witnessing vandals entering the mausoleum and even smashing some of the coffins buried within.
