Author: 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.

Gravedigger Pt.5

by Pete Lowdenin General

This is the final part of this series and it tries to pull all the odds and ends that you might want to ask.

Exhumations

Exhumations are an issue that has been broached on here before. I was asked about when HGC sold the frontage of Princes Ave, did it disturb the people already buried there? No, no burials had been buried on this screed of land although this part had been consecrated for burials. If, however burials had taken place there the land would not have been sold.

By the turn of the 20th century, when this land sale happened, the regulations enshrined in the various Burial Acts had made it an offence to exhume a body without a licence signed by the Home Secretary. Exhumations were a serious business and licences were not given lightly.

Having said that Rev. Milson’s wife managed to get him exhumed and buried near Wm.Clowes because she wanted him buried in Prim Corner.

My experience of exhumations is brief, but that’s because they are quite rare. I was tasked with digging a grave that the body was to be exhumed from. Strangely I was quite proud of being given this role over the rest of the diggers. That might sound strange to you reading this but it showed i was good at my job.

Home Office

And why was I picked? Because the entire dig was monitored by two guys from the Home Office plus a Home Office ‘digger’. So, as you all know now, i knew how deep i was going because I knew how many were already in the grave.

In this case though, the entire grave area was enclosed by a large tent. I was ‘allowed’ to dig to within a foot of the coffin to be taken out and then I was told to bugger off and get a cup of tea and go do something else.

I left the tent and the Home Office people did the rest. Sorry i can’t tell you what it was all about. No idea. We were not told. They had a licence so that was that. The coffin was placed in a plastic shell case and that was it. I don’t remember if the body ever came back.

By the way, this was in Northern Cemetery. If you are ever passing Northern, just have a glance into the work yard as you pass. You’ll notice a large brick built building taking up quite a lot of the space.

The left part of it was the mess room where we had our lunch etc. The right hand part was where we parked the dumper, kept the tools, shoring boards and all the other paraphernalia that goes with running a cemetery.

The Morgue

However there is a darker side to this right hand side. We called it the morgue and the reason for this was that during the Second World War victims of the bombing of the city were exhumed from the ruins and stored in this building.

Often these were identified by the families and buried in the normal fashion. Sometimes the remains were more difficult to identify.

As you’ll all know there is a grassed area close to the columbarium in Northern which is the last resting place for these people who could not be identified.

There are two rose beds on the site and a brass plaque detailing how many were buried there. All of those people were at one time stored in the building where we parked the dumper 25 years later. Doesn’t seem quite right does it? I think that’ll do. I hope you’ve enjoyed this walk down memory lane with me. If you have any questions I’ll do my best to answer them.

‘Gravedigger’ by Pete Lowden

Gravedigger Pt.4

by Pete Lowdenin General1 Comment on Gravedigger Pt.4

Digging a Grave Part 4

So the grave is dug, be it a re-opener or a new one. Now comes the reason for its digging, that is the burial of the deceased.

The first job in the morning of the funeral is to check the state of the grave.

The grave door used by the stager that had covered the grave overnight is lifted and the grave inspected. Has it collapsed overnight? Is it full of water?

The first one is more serious obviously. No one wants the funeral hearse coming down the road and you’re still shovelling like mad. It doesn’t send out the right message of dignity and decorum.

If the grave has collapsed the extent of the problem needs to be assessed. If it is the soil heap side then that is potentially more dangerous for the entire soil heap could collapse. Probably a ton or so of wet soil moving is not good.

If it is the staging side, this may have problems for the mourners who will stand upon it during the service.

Anyway, if there is a problem and the grave cannot take the coffin, the funeral service takes place with the coffin on the staging board.

Mourners

Once the mourners have gone, this is removed to a safe place. The excavation continues until the depth is reached and the coffin can be lowered into the grave.

Anyway, let’s say the grave is intact but the water level is high. Pumping the water out is a possibility. But the pumps never were reliable. And in wet weather the water seeped back in just as quick as it was removed.

So, the usual solution was to get the water level down to a suitable level. Then, as the hearse arrived, sawdust was placed in the grave to camouflage that the coffin was to be placed into water. Just in case any of the mourners wanted to peer down the hole.

Most didn’t but you never know.

Burial

Right now to the burial.

The hearse is coming round the corner, so you nip down into the grave and remove the bottom shoring, hoist yourself out and get ready to receive the coffin.

The soil heap and the staging board would have been draped with grass sheets, the same as fruit and veg merchants use on their stalls.

The bearers will hand the coffin to the gravediggers, who hold it, one at the foot and the other at the head of the coffin. This then is laid down on to the grave or burying ropes.

On a hand dig, only 2 staff would used, on the more recent machine digs, because they are digging with effectively a digging bucket, it is too wide to stretch across for one man so 4 staff are used.

The coffin is lowered. If it is heavy, then trust me on this, it can be quite a strain as you try to lower the coffin gently.

Especially at the head end.

Let’s say that everything goes well. The box is at the bottom. You’ve draped the ropes over the soil heap to avoid a trip hazard for the mourners.

Ashes to ashes

One of you will have the job of lingering in the vicinity. Because when the phrase, ‘earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust’ is spoken you’re the guy who has to throw a handful of soil in on cue.

God forbid that a priest, minister or funeral director would get their hands dirty!

The people leave and now the work begins again.

The ropes are flipped out leaving the coffin in place and the soil is replaced. The longer shoring boards are removed and the grave is filled to its maximum.

Soil is usually heaped to a height of about 1 to 2 foot as it will settle in time.

You then place the floral tributes on the heaped soil. And on to the next one.

Some times, not often, the funeral director would say to you that the bearers will leave the flowers on the box.

This sometimes was the request of the family and the flowers were buried with the coffin. Sometimes it was because the funeral directors had brought the wrong coffin so the flowers were hiding the nameplate on the box.

This meant that when the mourners had left we did not fill the grave but simply placed the staging door over the grave until they came with the right body. It didn’t happen often as I said but an opportunity to take the piss is not to be missed.

I was hoping to have this as the last part of this series but there’s too much, so I’ll have one more to do. This will look at exhumations, the Winter of Discontent issues, the Northern Cemetery morgue and a few other things.

But the major part of this series is done, so feel free to go out and try it. I’d try it in the back garden first to get some experience. You don’t want to get it wrong do you?

‘Gravedigger’ by Pete Lowden

Gravedigger Pt.3

by Pete Lowdenin General1 Comment on Gravedigger Pt.3

The Scenario

For a re-opener you approach the dig differently. Lets go back to our scenario. You have your grave slip, you’re at the site, the grave doors are erected. From the slip you know how deep you are going to dig as it should say how many it was dug for.

One problem that you often had to deal with on a re-opener were headstones on the grave being dug. Obviously this was never a problem on a new grave because no one was buried there yet.

If it was a kerb set, the stone mason’s would be informed and instructed to remove it and they would usually take it back to their yard. If it was a stone that had had a kerb set but this had been removed then a close eye needed to be kept on this as it would have only been placed in the ground to a depth of about 6 to 12 inches.

If the grave to be dug was under the stone, the stone was laid flat by us. After the funeral it was put back by us. Indeed one of the jobs of the gravediggers was to re-align leaning headstones.

We never allowed stones to remain on the ground as this would interfere with our grass cutting in the summer.

Sadly there are such staff shortages these days it is just not feasible for this to be done now.

On the lawns area (in Northern and Eastern) the headstones are all in long lines, modelled i think on the First World War cemeteries. You know that on these graves the headstone is not on the grave so there’s no issue here.

Digging

So let’s start digging. In digging a re-opener you start from the middle, don’t attempt to mark out the shape. The reason for this is that you are looking for the walls of the old grave so starting from the middle and inching outwards is the best way to do that.

At about 2 foot deep, and after gradual widening you should see a difference in colour and texture in the soil.

Of course you don’t know whether the original grave was dug wedge or coffin shape so it really is trial and error at this point.

Walls

Now, you’re probably thinking, why take all that trouble to find the old walls.

Because, when you’re 7 foot down and suddenly the backfill from the old grave comes away from the old wall and lands on you it becomes apparent that you maybe should have tried to find the old walls.

Sometimes, however much you try, you cant find the walls. This is also something to worry about because it usually signifies that the previous grave caved in and it is likely to do so with you. You just have to keep your eyes and ears open.

The grave still has to be dug because someone has bought that space and wants to be buried in there. Usually within 2 days of you getting that slip.

Right lets suppose that everything has gone right; the walls have been found, the stager hasn’t dropped huge mountains of clay on your head, and you’re close to the depth you need.

Now I always used to work backwards. From the foot end of the grave to the shoulders and then turn round to get the soil out of the head end. The reason for this, at least in my mind, was that this minimised the amount of time that I was standing on the coffin already in the grave.

Of course it didn’t, it would have been just the same from the other way. Funny how you get these ideas.

The box in the grave

So, by this time you are standing on the ‘box’ already in the grave.

Always a tricky time. For example, if the grave was near trees, the coffin may well have disintegrated in parts and suddenly you find yourself throwing bones up. Sorry but it happens.

A coffin was always better preserved in water but the smell was usually quite bad. Nowhere near as bad as the smell when I worked at the tannery as a little lad of 15 but still not pleasant.

Let’s presume this grave is Goldilocks-like; not too dry, not too wet. In fact just right. The final part of the soil in the bottom of the grave is spread over the coffin you are standing upon so that if some mourners feel the urge to view the grave before the funeral they won’t see anything untoward.

Then put the shoring in, climb out and have a cup of tea, sometimes even washing your hands before making it. Next time, the gravedigger’s role at the funeral, the winter of discontent and other odds and sods that i remember.

‘Gravedigger’ by Pete Lowden

Gravedigger Pt.2

by Pete Lowdenin General

So you’ve reached the grave, the grave doors are there and erected. You’ve got your three tools: spade, grafter and shaper. The first thing you need to do is to see how deep the grave you have to dig is to be and whether it is a new one or a you are re-opening one.

Deep

The grave slip will tell you how deep you will dig. The deepest grave that was available after WW2 in municipal cemeteries was for 4 adults. This would have been 8 foot 6 inches deep. 3 adults was for 7 foot. 2 adults was for 5 foot 6 inches and one adult would be interred at a depth of 4 foot 6 inches. Obviously if the grave is a re-opener you will know how deep you need to go once you hit the last coffin that was buried there.

If the grave is a new one you will measure the grave out and begin to dig. We all had different ways to approach this task. Mine was to cut out a shape in the turf, some 2 inches wider than the measurement I had been given, and begin the dig. Again, an issue that would need to be taken into account was the weather, trees, and the nature of the plot where you were digging.

Wet

If the weather was very wet and the plot you were on was a wet one. (by that I mean that it was poorly drained and retained water) If both of these factors were evident then you would need to shape the grave so that it could accommodate shoring boards. In essence then you would have a shape similar to a wedge. Wider at the head of the grave.

This is the shape you would dig until you reached about 3 foot. By this time you have an idea of the ground and whether it could cave- in on you. To stop that you would place the shoring boards at the 3 foot level. One on either side. they were usually a standard 6 or 7 foot board, 2 inches wide. This is why you would have started the dig 2 inches wider than the measurements you were given that morning.

Strut

There were a good supply of struts in the store. You would have picked up about 6 when you went to pick up your shoring boards and a hammer. Placing the shoring boards in the grave at the level you’ve reached you would hammer the struts in, effectively tightening the boards against the grave walls until the boards would not move. In this way you had a good chance that the soil would not move when you dug any deeper.

Once the boards were in place you carried on digging, keeping a constant eye on the numerous cracks in the clay that were appearing, occasionally putting your ear to the walls of the grave to listen for water running. Now, after placing the shoring in, was the time when you began digging a coffin shape to the measurements you were given. ( after adding 2 inches for the coffin handles of course. No one likes a coffin that sticks half way down).

Stager

Once you reached 5 foot 6 inches you were allowed a stager. This was another worker to help throw the soil from the staging board over the grave on to the soil heap. Because by this time the soil heap was quite high and you were quite deep. So now you threw the soil up to the other side of where you had been throwing it and the stager scooped it up and threw over you on the soil heap.

A good stager was great. Firstly, they could throw the soil over without most of it landing on your head. Secondly they could keep an eye out on the grave walls for cracks and buckling. You had a stager for any grave deeper than 5 foot 6 inches.

After a while you gained the knowledge of how deep you were without recourse to a tape measure. A 7 footer I could stand at the bottom and touch the top of the grave. And 8 foot 6″ was an arms length again. Also the soil changed. It was usually clay for the first 5 foot, after that it changed to a rather nice sandy soil that kept together, after 8 foot it turned to a bluey clay that wan’t sticky.

Tea

Once you’d reached the required depth you shored up the part of the grave below the previous shoring with some more boards. And then you were allowed a 15 minute break for a cup of tea. This is what happened when everything went well. There were days when they didn’t but that’s for another time.

‘Gravedigger’ by Pete Lowden

Gravedigger Pt.1

by Pete Lowdenin General

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