Category: General

General news, notifications, announcements, and requests from the Friends of Hull General Cemetery

Tree Survey

by Adminin General, Volunteers, Wildlife

On the 6th November 1976 Hull City Council conducted a wide-ranging tree survey of Hull General Cemetery. To build-on this information it is hoped* that the Friends of Hull General Cemetery (FoHGC) will conduct it’s own tree survey of the cemetery in 2020. Once the new survey has been conducted it will be possible to see how many of the original-survey trees remain and how the spread/variety of them has changed in the past 44 years.

*(Covid-19 lockdown permitting)

The Friends of Hull General Cemetery has created a xlsx spreadsheet using the 1976 survey results. Karen Towner our Wildlife Liaison Officer has added some (stock) images and a brief outline of the benefits to the eco-system of each tree. Please feel free to download this spreadsheet using the following link.

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1976 Tree Survey

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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

Patrick Branagan 1955 – 2020

by Adminin General, Volunteers

We have just heard of the sad death of Patrick Branagan who was an early supporter of the Friends of Hull General Cemetery and contributed to its success. We send our condolences and best wishes to his family at this sad time.

Mr Patrick Branagan, 3rd May 1955 – 4th January 2020.

Notice Board

by Adminin General, Volunteers

Just a quick message to let everyone know that the notice board we erected in Hull General Cemetery close to the rear (cemetery) entrance of Thoresby Street primary school is for use by everyone. Notices do not have to be related to the cemetery, they can be from anyone or any local organisation across the whole community.

Blue Bins

You may have also noticed that we have also placed some wooden bins (made from pallets) in the cemetery… We would like to add some more but (Patrick) the person who built them for us (he also made the notice board) is too busy at the moment and just doesn’t have the time to be able to help us.. So we were wondering if any of our wonderful ‘friends’ with woodworking/cabinet making skills would be able to put some together for us.

If you are able to help us we can supply all the pallets, and Patrick is able to draw up some plans if needed – though the design doesn’t have to be the same.

Please contact us on our Facebook page, or by using the form on our contact page, or by popping-in to the Head Gardener on Spring Bank and speaking to Jo if you are able to help us. We would be very grateful. Thank you.

Wildlife

by Adminin General

As part of the ‘Friends’ wildlife initiative, Pete Civic and myself planted several Rowan, Birch, Buckthorn, Hawthorn, and Dogwood saplings this morning. These will eventually provide much needed cover and food source for the birds in the future. Most of the saplings were donated by The Woodland Trust and organized by Eva La Pensee, some were kindly donated by Catherine Foster’s father as part of the Queen’s Canopy project. All of the saplings were planted in areas that previously didn’t have any tree cover, such as adjacent to Thoresby St School and the Workhouse graves area. We still have a couple dozen more to plant.

Grave Visit

by John Wheeldonin General, Volunteers
Family Reunited

A few months ago whilst clearing the area around the Main gates, John Wheeldon uncovered 3 gravestones that were not recorded in MI Book1, these were Arthur & Irene Allen, Sydney & Elsie Winter and Lily and Arthur Holmes. The Winter grave also commemorated Sydney Winter jnr who had been killed in North Africa on 30 Nov 1942.

We discovered that all of the above were relatives of member Sue Honeyman, who sent us photographs of her family. One of the pics was the attached pic of her aunt laying flowers on the above graves in the 1950’s, the girl in the black pram is Sue! Her mum Sheila, took the photograph. We arranged to meet Sue, her cousin Elaine and her mother Sheila (who is now a spritely 91!!) this morning to show her the graves and lay some flowers and 2 poppy crosses. (1 on Sydney Winter’s grave, and 1 on the adjacent grave of Herbert Walker, another family member who had been killed in France on 12 April 1918 ). We went on to show them the grave of Samuel Widdowson who has a headstone at the rear of the cemetery.

We were very privileged to share the time and stories of the family, and thank them for the old photos that they have shared with us.