BBC News | UK | Visitors from beyond the grave

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Monday, 29 November, 1999, 17:11 GMT

Visitors from beyond the grave

The squeeze on space that is pushing property prices ever higher in London is a fact of life ... and death.

Many of the capital's graveyards are so crowded the government is considering a range of options to help relieve the pressure.

They include the idea of double-decker graves - laying the remains of one dead person on top of another.

Campaigners have been keenly awaiting the release of a Home Office consultation paper on the proposal since January. A department spokesman says closed consultation was still being carried out with relevant parties.

The plan could mean a rude awakening for those who have been resting in peace for a hundred years or more.

Bodies would be dug up, re-interred and buried deeper, leaving room for another coffin on top.

The idea sounds radical but backers say it has public support and point out the so-called practice of "lift and deepen" is common on the Continent and many other Christian countries.

Although the problem of overcrowded graveyards is most acute in London, cemeteries in other parts of the country, in both urban and rural areas, face growing pressure on space. This is despite the fact that 70% of people are cremated.

"Research in London showed that space was running out, especially if you want to be buried locally," says Julie Rugg of the cemetery research group at the University of York.

According to a recent magazine report cemeteries in three inner-London boroughs are already full and 16 other areas in the capital will be at capacity within five to 15 years.

Those in the hardest hit boroughs are buried in outlying districts - which can be more costly and time consuming for relatives who wish to visit the graves of their loved ones.

"Many districts charge more for people who are buried from outside the borough."

Rev Stephen Cox, a former area dean for Islington, says he has noted a marked rise in the number of cremations since he was ordained in 1980, and has no doubt this is down to the cheaper cost.

The proposal - lift and deepen

Only for graves over 100 years old
Remains exhumed and re-interred in a small casket
Re-burried deeper to make way for new coffin
Old headstone makes way for new one

Authorities already have a range of limited "solutions". The City of London is digging new graves on top of 100-year-old deep burials, but cannot disturb old remains.

Others have begun to dig graves in footpaths and roadways that run through existing cemeteries and some have turned to parkland and allotments which have burial ground options on them.

The problem of overcrowding is not a new one. The Burial Act of 1857, which outlaws the recyling of graves, was brought about after a wave of such activity.

Not a vote catcher

"In the last couple of decades death is not a subject people wanted to talk about. Councils and the government have been very, very reluctant to bring it up because it's not exactly a vote-catcher."

The practice of lift and deepen, which would require primary legislation by Parliament, was examined in a report issued two years ago, called Planning for Burial Space in London.

"In principle [it would] create a substantial renewable number of burial spaces," stated the report.

Although only graves more than 100 years old could be disturbed - that is the maximum lease that can be bought on a burial spot - there would be no limit to the number of times a grave could be re-used.

Living descendants would be able to object to the body of a relative being exhumed but experts say there is little left of a body after a century in the ground.

Sustainable cemeteries

"At the moment after a period of time cemeteries have no income at all. [Lift and deepen] means that cemetery costs in the long-term would be sustainable."

But a spokesman for Hackney Council - often cited as being short of cemetery space - says lift and deepen would be almost irrelevant since the council owns only one small graveyard.

"For 30 or 40 years, 99.9% of people in Hackney have been buried outside the borough."

Yet supporters of re-using graves point to a survey by York which found 62% of respondents supported some form of re-use. More than 50% would accept re-use if it occurred after 100 years.

The prospect remains strong that if you live in London and choose burial over cremation, you can expect company in your final resting place.

Related to this story:
It's your funeral (10 Feb 99 | UK)

Internet Links: University of York - cemetery research group
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