Padadigms When Land Is Scarce

The concept is stacking. Since cemetery land is becoming scarce, the new strategy is to pile the remains - one on top of the other:

“…Under a test scheme to begin in the new year, local authorities across the country will be allowed to exhume remains and rebury them deeper to create space for further burials on top. In some cases, new inscriptions will be added to the existing headstone to ensure that the heritage of the grave is not destroyed. Damaged or insignificant headstones would be removed and replaced with only the new name.

The move comes amid an acute shortage of burial grounds in London and other urban areas, where many cemeteries have already run out of space…”

link: More room on top - lack of space brings in the doubledecker grave

Another space saving idea that has been offered is vertical burials. Many people regard the final resting place as being sacrosanct and the disturbance of existing burial sites as unacceptable. However, in some places in the United Kingdom, the land is simply not available. Needless to say… ‘a grave situation’.

Catherine Forsythe