Part one
I thought about recent comments on our Facebook page about stigma to the job of gravedigger. So I thought I might as well tell you what a gravedigger in the 1970’s did. Well, the job would have been exactly the same as when the men who were digging in Hull General Cemetery did it.
Here’s how it worked for me. First thing in the morning you were given a slip of paper. On it was a name, compartment number and grave number. Also how many bodies the grave was for, a size of the grave, and an undertaker.
So you picked up your spade, grafter and shaper and set off for the site. When you reached it, if you were lucky, there would be no large monuments near it. These had a tendency to lean into towards you once you were quite a way down.
Hopefully the charge – hand had erected the grave doors with angle iron. 5 on one side, one laid flat on the other side of the grave. If not you had to put them up. So you knew how deep to go. Whether it was a new grave or an opener. And crucially the size of the coffin.
Also the name of the undertaker was important. Certain undertakers built coffins differently to others. Some made them wider at the hip and foot than others. So knowing who was conducting the funeral was important as you didn’t want the coffin to stick on the way down.
Next post i’ll describe the digging and some of the pitfalls.
‘Gravedigger’ by Pete Lowden
Pete Lowden is a member of the Friends of Hull General Cemetery committee which is committed to reclaiming the cemetery and returning it back to a community resource.