Most of us have noted that these past few winters have seen a lot of rain. That is evident to me because I have lost so many plants in the garden. Constant wet soil is not liked by most plants. That said, the consequences for those whose property is flooded is far worse, and that now seems an annual event. However, when a village floods, it rarely occurs to us that the local churchyard is often inundated and burials cannot take place. Those burials that have taken place are, of course, also underwater. It reminds us that water and earth burial are not good bedfellows.
In the past, churches and churchyards were placed on land given by local benefactors, which might include the lord of the manor. The land might be assumed to be the least attractive for farming or forestry, and that was often wet ground. Nobody really bothered about water in graves in those days. However, the wealthy noticed and often constructed sealed vaults for burial, sometimes above ground, and dry. The water problem, as it were, was something only the gravedigger understood. An odd burial, in a water filled grave, was an incident few noticed and even fewer wanted to talk about. Extensions to the churchyard were usually on similar adjacent ground and little better.
Parish cemeteries could be as bad as churchyards, often similarly on land gifted by a local landowner. Few, if any, of these grounds, were really studied in midwinter. It is then, at periods of highest rainfall that land needs to be checked as regards the water table. This is the water level in the soil, which rises and falls according to rainfall levels. Rejecting rather wet ground is also difficult in many areas of Britain where the entire area, say in the fens, is always wet. Consequently, a 6-foot-deep grave might have to have a few feet of water removed before a burial. This was often by hand using a scoop or, as mechanical pumps were developed, by machine.
All of this came to mind in my village over last winter. A grave flooded during heavy rain and no pumps were available. The floating coffin had to be pushed down into the grave using a mechanical digger boom. It was a very upsetting experience for the family. When I considered this situation, I anticipated what I might find. Firstly, that the gravedigger was simply a digger operator used to working on local farms. The person was not a trained gravedigger, consequently, there was no timber to support the grave walls, and no boards on the surface around the grave edge to support the bearers. Neither was there an awareness of where the water came from. In fact, much of it was surface water, after heavy rainfall, that poured over the edge of the grave. The gravedigger had never owned nor used a mechanical pump.
It is, sad to say, a classic example of underestimating the skills possessed by a trained gravedigger, at least one trained in the past. Modern life values accountants, computer whizz kids and celebrities. The experienced gravedigger, who understood soil and its characteristics, no longer exists. The job, you see, is not to dig a hole. It is to prepare a grave and ensure the burial goes ahead, without the intrusion of water or soil collapse. It is, in essence, to ensure that the bereaved are not further stressed beyond the bereavement they experienced.
I worked with a gravedigger called Charlie Tomkins back in the 1960’s at Shrewsbury Cemetery. Charlie could neither read nor write but he was a skilled gravedigger. One winter, with no graves to dig, he came across to the cemetery nursery where I worked. The head gardener put him to hand digging one of our nursery beds. Now, I could hand dig and often did so. However, Charlie dug that plot like a machine, only each sod was placed such that it looked like a chessboard. It was immaculate and it was also a synthesis between man and soil. He knew the medium, understood and could handle it with aplomb. Meanwhile, he and his manual skill, was treated with disdain by society. Who, after all, wants to be a gravedigger?
The moral of this story is the need to understand that no matter how mundane the work might look, skill is necessary. Digging and using hand tools is a skill, and it also needs a certain level of fitness and strength. It is outdoors and valuable community work. Working on a computer, by comparison, is so very poor for the body.
So, the next time you attend a graveside service, what should you expect. Well, firstly, the absence of water in the grave. Secondly, an absence of mud and soil all over the ground. The spoil heap, the soil from the grave, should be covered over by artificial grass mats. There should not be damaged turf, not least by any vehicles cutting it up. Ply boards can be put down to protect the ground. Clean boards should be available on both sides of the grave to support the bearers. This work, of course, increases costs. The gravedigger who offers the lowest price may not be the ideal choice. It is skill, not low prices, we should pursue.
To return to flooding, all new burial grounds including those for natural burial, must satisfy the Environment Agency that the ground is suitable for burial. The absence of a high-water table is now taken for granted. No wet ground can be used for burial. Neither can the burial ground be near to water abstraction points. This is to avoid drinking water being fouled in any way.
All over the country, cemeteries are struggling to find people willing to be trained to do this work. It is usually quite well paid but few, if any, apply. Nobody has an affinity towards the land any longer, it is the land of lost content.
Article by resident author Ken West
Stonehenge Pensioner
Published in farewells Edition 15
