The Death Dilemma: Burial Practices in 19th Century England

The Death Dilemma: Burial Practices in 19th Century England

When thinking about nineteenth century England, most people think of a Charles Dickens-type world full of stone streets, brimmed hats, and horses pulling carriages full of people. Despite the stories that often define people's ideas of this time, a dark underbelly remains. With the death tally becoming an increasingly alarming statistic, the mid-1800's was a macabre time to live. As the number of the dead grew, the brutal reality of burial ensued the country, resulting in large numbers of mass graves and unhygenic burial practices. 

As the dead lay stacked under-foot, few people initially realized the gruesome reality of burials in the time period. With graveyards filled, graves began to be dug underground in an increasingly shallow manner. Bodies of the dead were often rolled in sheets, and placed underground where as decomposition occurred, and so did the bodily fumes that came along with it(1). With numbers of shallow and casual burials becoming higher due to the growing death rate and decreasing number of burial spots available, the smells from decaying bodies intensified to the point of concern. 

Enon Chapel, in St. Clement's Lane, is one very popular example of the horrors that came along with the reality of burial at this time. The chapel, placed in an impoverished area, was a church by day and burial pit by night. With a large underground cellar being located directly under the wooden floorboards of the church, burials began to be sold by church officials for significantly lower prices than elsewhere in order to target a less-wealthy population. For twenty years, bodies of the deceased were piled under the floorboards of Enon Chapel without the approval of the loved ones, slowly decaying and giving off putrid fumes that began to leak through the floorboards, causing people attending the Enon Chapel for church services to become nauseous, have headaches, and witness strange insects flying up from between the floorboards and resting in the folds of their clothes and hair(4). Until the death of the head church officials, the gruesome ordeal continued. When concerns grew, a sewer inspection was held underneath the chapel, where body parts and various other human remains flooded the sewer pipes. Upon the investigation occurring, burials were ceased and a layer of concrete and new wood was added to the floor where the building was then purchased as a dancing and entertainment facility. 

Image Source 1- Enon Chapel

In the 1840's the concern of the public as well as the stench grew to be at an unbearable and concerning level, drawing the attention of many individuals as well as George Alfred Walker, a physician who wrote books on the dangers of the conditions at the time in dealing with the deceased, gravediggers in search of bodies to exhume in order to sell as  medical cadavers, the sickening fume of decaying corpses, and the impoverished keeping their dead within their living quarters before burial due to a lack of other available areas(3). Even with complaints rapidly growing, they were often swept under the rug by officials until England faced a severe cholera outbreak in 1848 that left tens of thousands dead. With overall health on a decline, the government investigated and pushed forward the Burial Acts of 1852-1857, which made a number of provisions regarding burials not to be taking place within two miles of urban areas, the requirement of permission from the government in decided the areas of new burial grounds, and inspection of burial records. These laws have led to the closing of many metropolitan cemeteries and led to a new trend in individual, rural burials (2).

Whenever a person drives past a cemetery or burial place, few come to understand the steps required in order to obtain land and follow the regulations for burials, however, these legislative acts have led to a healthier community with fewer diseases, a higher quality of life, and more respect for the deceased.The Burial Acts of 1852-1857 created a more respectful community and showed a great deal of governmental strength, which has proven to be impactful on England ever since. 

Works Cited

1.) “A History of Burial in London.” Natural History Museum, www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/a-history-of-  burial-in-london.html.

2.) Jackson, Lee. “Burial Act 1852.” Legislation.gov.uk, Queen's Printer of Acts of Parliament,        www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/Vict/15-16/85/enacted.


3.) “Death in the City: the Grisly Secrets of Dealing with Victorian 

          London's Dead.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 22 Jan. 2015, www.theguardian.com/cities/2015/jan/22/death-city-grisly-secrets-victorian-london-dead.

4.) “Our Burial Laws.” An Extensive Study of the Victorian Era: Step Back into an Age of Paradox and Power; The Victorian Age Was Not One, Not Single, or Simple. The Victorian Era, 2020, www.avictorian.com/burial_laws_1875.html.

Image 1: Jackson, Lee. “Enon Chapel.” Yale University Press Blog, Oct. 2014, blog.yalebooks.com/tag/enon-chapel/.