The first [-fourth] of a series of lectures delivered at the Mechanics' Institution, Southampton Buildings, Chancery Lane, Nov. 27, 1846 [-August 13, 1847], on the actual condition of the metropolitan grave-yards.

  • Walker, George Alfred, 1807-1884.
Date:
1849
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The first [-fourth] of a series of lectures delivered at the Mechanics' Institution, Southampton Buildings, Chancery Lane, Nov. 27, 1846 [-August 13, 1847], on the actual condition of the metropolitan grave-yards. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    arising therefrom, more especially in damp or warm weather. It became neces¬ sary to remove the corrupt matter that had accumulated in consequence of want of room, and the coffins tumbling one on another. About ten cart-loads were taken away by the contractor who repaired the church. The bodies of parish¬ ioners are permitted to be buried in wooden coffins ; but if a non-parishioner requires what is called Christian burial in the vault of St. Martin’s, Ludgate, his or her body must be inclosed in lead. The church was some years since warmed by stoves, which were so fixed that the air which supplied them was drawn from the vault, so that a smell could be perceived by a person standing close to the stove. Mr. J. Harvey, a general builder, and who has been 18 or 19 years parish- clerk of St. Andrew Andershaft, gives valuable testimony. He says, that church¬ yard, whose greatest distance from the adjoining houses is about 23 feet, contains a little above 2,000 superficial feet, and is therefore capable of containing, ac¬ cording to calculation, 62 adult bodies. That a great number were buried there during the visitation of the cholera. That the highest coffin is a little above 4 feet from the surface. That from bodies having been buried so thickly, there has been a great deal of obstruction found. That he has seen bodies cut through. That a great deal of coffin wood has been consumed in the fire-places of the church. That the leaden coffins have been appropriated to the profit of the parish; that the money has been paid over to the church-wardens ; that in one instance they sold three tons of lead, which went to defray the expenses of “ clearing out.” The witness further states, that they bury as close to the foundations of the church as possible.* That frequently a bad smell is perceptible when graves are opened. That bones have been found in the cellars of houses in Leadenhall-street. When asked to account for the circumstance, Mr. Harvey replies, that it all formed a part of the church-yard formerly, and that if they have anything like an excavation to make, they find many bodies. Let us now select a fact for which we are indebted to the public press ;— A correspondent in the Times of September 10, 1846, who signs himself “ A Parishioner,” says, the removal of human remains from the vault of St. Mat¬ thew’s church, Friday-street, is only one more of those numerous instances that take place in many of the City churches every ten or twelve years, where no burial-ground is attached to the church. [We shall see presently that these “clearings out” take place where burial-grounds are attached.] The writer continues,—“ in my owh parish (St. Martin Ludgate) this disgusting exhibition took place in the year 1840. This church at that period was undergoing repair} when it was found necessary to, what is termed in vestry, clear out the vault 5 that is, the vault where the poor are buried in simple wooden coffins. As these piles of human remains fall, it becomes necessary to remove them, and this removal took place opposite my own door, between six and ten o’clock in the