Grave Digging.

Sir Osis of Liver.

blue5000

I've dug a few, in some rural areas the neighbours would still dig a grave by hand, ie. not with a mini-digger. Usually the first grave is down about 2m.

Problems start when the deceased relatives are convinced that auntie Joan was buried 'right here', so it should be ok to dig 'right there', so off you and the neighbours go only to find auntie Joans coffin down about 4 foot. Then you start all over again, over to one side.

Shallowest grave I ever dug was in a very old graveyard, only 1m deep. Heard of a lad digging a grave for his brother, it was just finished, so he put his hand on the headstone to pull himself up. Poor man pulled the headstone in on top of himself and it killed him.

You're asked how many you want it for when you buy it.

_Brian

Deleted User wrote: »

You're asked how many you want it for when you buy it.

Used to be you could Buy in advance but most parishes here now you have to wait till someone is dead before a new plot can be bought. Also double width is the biggest allowed.

_Brian

_Brian wrote: »

Used to be you could Buy in advance but most parishes here now you have to wait till someone is dead before a new plot can be bought. Also double width is the biggest allowed.

When my kids died they asked how many I wanted the plot for. Essentially they dig deeper the more you want it for. My mam reserved the plot next to it, but she can only have it if she dies before the graveyard fills up!

lizzyman

DrGreenthumb wrote: »

I got about 9 in a 7x3" one about 2.5 meters deep, the daisies also grow extra tall in that patch of land too

Larry Murphy is that you?

Native Americans actually bury multiple people in the same grave, as opposed to digging one for each person. When someone new dies, they take up the tombstone of the previous occupant, and put in the new one in its place. They also have a belief that if you enter a graveyard on any time that isn't a funeral, then the spirits of the dead will haunt you for the rest of your life.

LadyFenghuang

Can we bury this thread??

316

Deleted User wrote: »

Essentially they dig deeper the more you want it for.

2 coffin depth is the maximum.

RDM_83 again

blue5000 wrote: »

I've dug a few, in some rural areas the neighbours would still dig a grave by hand, ie. not with a mini-digger. Usually the first grave is down about 2m.

Problems start when the deceased relatives are convinced that auntie Joan was buried 'right here', so it should be ok to dig 'right there', so off you and the neighbours go only to find auntie Joans coffin down about 4 foot. Then you start all over again, over to one side.

Shallowest grave I ever dug was in a very old graveyard, only 1m deep. Heard of a lad digging a grave for his brother, it was just finished, so he put his hand on the headstone to pull himself up. Poor man pulled the headstone in on top of himself and it killed him.

Can I ask (no problems if you can't say) since you've dug in a few old graveyards, do you still use Charnel pits or arrange any disarticulated stuff you hit on the way down around the coffin of the burial your putting in.
If your digging a nearly full old graveyard, do you tend to hit neonates and infants a lot in the top layer or in old graveyards still in use did they not do this practice?

I can confirm that yes coffins do fall in on top of each other and not just one or two.

Also its a myth that priests are buried West-East rather than East- West (idea is that they are buried so at judgement day they would be facing their flock) edit:maybe it happens some places but it definitely isn't universal not even in the middle ages

316

316 wrote: »

2 coffin depth is the maximum.

See above. My "receipt" says different!

blue5000

RDM_83 again wrote: »

Can I ask (no problems if you can't say) since you've dug in a few old graveyards, do you still use Charnel pits or arrange any disarticulated stuff you hit on the way down around the coffin of the burial your putting in.
If your digging a nearly full old graveyard, do you tend to hit neonates and infants a lot in the top layer or in old graveyards still in use did they not do this practice?

I can confirm that yes coffins do fall in on top of each other and not just one or two.

Also its a myth that priests are buried West-East rather than East- West (idea is that they are buried so at judgement day they would be facing their flock) edit:maybe it happens some places but it definitely isn't universal not even in the middle ages

'do you still use Charnel pits'

Normally when the old coffin is found we stop digging, because they collapse in, what's usually found first is the end board because it sticks up higher than everything else. If previous remains are found at a shallow depth they are placed at one end and left deeper than the new grave, but I've never had to do this.

'If your digging a nearly full old graveyard, do you tend to hit neonates and infants a lot in the top layer or in old graveyards still in use did they not do this practice?'

Only thing I ever found in the old graveyard was a tooth. I only dug one grave in that area and I was expecting to find more in a very old graveyard.

Arsemageddon

RDM_83 again wrote: »

Can I ask (no problems if you can't say) since you've dug in a few old graveyards, do you still use Charnel pits or arrange any disarticulated stuff you hit on the way down around the coffin of the burial your putting in.

In general, in cemeteries or in graveyards that are still in use the gravediggers will come across the coffins or bones of those that have been previously buried in the family plot. These burials are very likely to be uncovered or exposed during the excavation of the burial shaft but are not readily visible to the untrained eye. When my aunt was buried 10 years ago I helped to lower the body into the grave. On one side of the grave shaft I could see where my grandmothers coffin had collapsed away and the skeleton of my granny was exposed. That fairly flipped my wig at the time.

If your digging a nearly full old graveyard, do you tend to hit neonates and infants a lot in the top layer or in old graveyards still in use did they not do this practice?

That depends on how old the graveyard/cemetery is. In older cemeteries (late medieval with ruined churches and the like) the infants and neonates are buried to the northern side. There are also special burial sites for very young children called cillin. In later church sites the young are often buried outside the boundary walls.

I can confirm that yes coffins do fall in on top of each other and not just one or two.

In modern graveyard (last 150 years or so) this s very much true.I n earlier graveyard it was quite common that the excavation of a grave would disturb a previous burial. When the grave diggers disturbed an earlier burial they would often re-inter the bones in the grave of the new burial. The best known reference to disturbing an earlier burial in a medieval burial is in Hamlet when the good Danish prince finds the skull of a lad he believes to be Yorrick and starts soliloquising like a mofo.

Also its a myth that priests are buried West-East rather than East- West
(idea is that they are buried so at judgement day they would be facing their
flock) edit:maybe it happens some places but it definitely isn't universal not
even in the middle ages

In the Christian tradition burials are supposed to be orientated east to west with the feet at the west. The idea was that at judgement day the dead would rise to face the morning sun. The idea that the priest was buried in the opposite way to face his flock on the big day has some archaeological evidence to back it up, but TBH I kind of think that with a few exceptions its just boll0cks.

Jesus Wept

dig your own grave and save

rosie16

possible ask me anything thread?

RDM_83 again

Cheers for the replies Arsemagedonn and Blue5000, only dug one graveyard (but a lot of bodies it was very crowded) and sort of curious about the how its done in a modern times but in old graveyards

Arsemageddon wrote: »

In modern graveyard (last 150 years or so) this s very much true.I n earlier graveyard it was quite common that the excavation of a grave would disturb a previous burial. When the grave diggers disturbed an earlier burial they would often re-inter the bones in the grave of the new burial. The best known reference to disturbing an earlier burial in a medieval burial is in Hamlet when the good Danish prince finds the skull of a lad he believes to be Yorrick and starts soliloquising like a mofo.

The site I dug was post medieval so saw a lot of both, coffin stacking but also long bones etc being arranged in the grave cuts, also saw E-W,W-E some pairing of coffins too save space (so the coffin shoulders interlock).

Arsemageddon wrote: »

That depends on how old the graveyard/cemetery is. In older cemeteries (late medieval with ruined churches and the like) the infants and neonates are buried to the northern side. There are also special burial sites for very young children called cillin. In later church sites the young are often buried outside the boundary walls.

I am aware of the older Irish tradition particularly with the unbaptized but the site I was from the protestant tradition(s) and it AFAIK to occured as a space saving measure.

Arsemageddon wrote: »

TBH I kind of think that with a few exceptions its just boll0cks.

Agree, you can actually tell an old priest burial from them having a communion chalice buried with them. Its an archaeological rumour more than any evidence AFAIK

Michael2107

In Ireland the cemeteries run by the council only allow a depth for 2 coffins for H&S reasons.

When there's a chance of a coffin sliding over now a lot of the time stakes will be put down to hold it in place until after the burial

Gael23

I was at one of our family graves a while back to remove a shrub someone planted. When we cut away the roots it unavoidably disturbed some soil and the next thing I saw was a coffin nail. The first burial there would have been in the 1940s and the most recent (and final) in 1997.