The Sassoon Mausoleum is the former grave of Sir Albert Sassoon and other members of his family, including

Sir Edward Sassoon, 2nd Baronet, of Kensington Gore Sir Edward Albert Sassoon, 2nd Baronet (20 June 1856 – 24 May 1912) was a British businessman and politician. Early life A member of the Sassoon family, he was born on 20 June 1856 in Mumbai, Bombay, India. He was the son of Hannah Moise and ...

. It stands at 83 St. George's Road in Brighton,

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. The single-storey building, which is Grade II listed, has since served as a furniture depository and an air-raid shelter, and since being purchased by a brewery in 1949 has remained a pub or bar.

History

Albert Abdullah David Sassoon was born in

Baghdad Baghdad (; ar, بَغْدَاد , ) is the capital of Iraq and the second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo. It is located on the Tigris near the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon and the Sassanid Persian capital of Ctesiphon. I ...

in 1818 to a prominent, Sephardic Jewish family. After many years spent managing the family's banking and merchant shipping business in

Bombay Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second-m ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

, he retired to England where he was created a

baronet A baronet ( or ; abbreviated Bart or Bt) or the female equivalent, a baronetess (, , or ; abbreviation Btss), is the holder of a baronetcy, a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown. The title of baronet is mentioned as early as the 14t ...

. He died in Brighton in 1896. The mausoleum was built in 1892 as a wing of the family home located at 1 Eastern Terrace. The Sassoons are known to have received many distinguished visitors, including

Edward VII Edward VII (Albert Edward; 9 November 1841 – 6 May 1910) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and Emperor of India, from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910. The second child and eldest son of Queen Victoria and ...

twice, while he was Prince of Wales. The house no longer survives. In 1933 the remains of the Sassoon family were removed and reburied at the Liberal Jewish Cemetery, Willesden in London. Sharman Kadish, ''Jewish Heritage in England: An Architectural Guide'',

English Heritage English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, medieval castles, Roman forts and country houses. The charity states that i ...

, 2006, pp. 77–8Peter Stansky, ''Sassoon: the worlds of Philip and Sybil'',

Yale University Press Yale University Press is the university press of Yale University. It was founded in 1908 by George Parmly Day, and became an official department of Yale University in 1961, but it remains financially and operationally autonomous. , Yale Universi ...

, 2003, p. 16 The former mausoleum was for a time a furniture depository. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

it was used as an air raid shelter during fierce bombings. In 1949 it was purchased by a brewery for use as a

pub A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and was ...

– The Bombay Bar. In 2001 the mausoleum housed the Brighton Arms pub. In 2003 it was bought and the name changed to "The Hanbury Club". In 2006 the mausoleum, which is located in the Kemptown neighbourhood of Brighton, underwent a £60,000 refurbishment. The new decor was intended to evoke the supper clubs of the 1920s and 1930s, and the venue featured live performances of contemporary music. In 2011 the mausoleum reopened as Proud Cabaret Brighton.

Architecture

The mausoleum is a single-storey building notable for its "flamboyant" trumpet-shaped, Indo-Saracenic dome. The copper dome was originally covered in gold leaf. The Indo-Saracenic theme is carried out in lotus-leaf crenellations along the parapet and the lobed arches of the front door. The colourful "Bollywood" ceiling murals were applied by a later owner and are not original to the mausoleum. The circle of pointed

horseshoe arch The horseshoe arch (; Spanish: "arco de herradura"), also called the Moorish arch and the keyhole arch, is an emblematic arch of Islamic architecture, especially Moorish architecture. Horseshoe arches can take rounded, pointed or lobed form. Hi ...

windows on the drum of the dome were restored in the early 21st century. The mausoleum, now a Grade II listed building, was designed as an enlarged replica of the marble mausoleum in the courtyard of the Ohel David Synagogue at Poona where Sassoon's father, David Sassoon, was buried.The Jewish Traveller: Bombay, Rahel Musleah, February 2000 Vol. 81 No.

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References

External links

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Proud Cabaret Brighton

{{B&H Buildings 1892 establishments in England Air raid shelters in the United Kingdom Burials at Liberal Jewish Cemetery, Willesden Grade II listed buildings in Brighton and Hove Jewish mausoleums Jews and Judaism in England Mausoleums in England Pubs in Brighton and Hove *

History

Architecture

See also

References

External links