Life......and Death.

[David Humphries]

I wonder though, on average they are buried 6 feet so tree roots especially Ash wouldn't get that far down, and if they did the body would have long since dissolved, Sorry to be so graphic!

 

Unless it's a multiple plot where the coffins are stacked.

 

 

.

[skyhuck]

Unless it's a multiple plot where the coffins are stacked.

 

 

.

 

Indeed, I think with family graves the top coffin only has has to be 18" under.

[GardenKit]

It would be quite a job for a grave digger to do a re-open for a family member now.

An exhumation would be difficult too, they could not do it quietly. Chainsaws at midnight.

[Tony Croft aka hamadryad]

Unless it's a multiple plot where the coffins are stacked.

 

 

.

 

The migration of goodies from deep in the soil profile would happen naturaly, via worms and other beasties, young ash would drive roots to great depth in a loose soil like that only losing that older root later in maturity as the root crown morphs and evolves into the mature root plates we are more familiar with.

 

least thats what i reckon:biggrin:

[sean]

Another from Arnos Vale

[Tony Croft aka hamadryad]

Another from Arnos Vale

 

when i look at that image I see the time after a zombie apocalypse, where nature sweeps away, under the carpet, the vast majority of mans interventions.

Edited July 13, 2014 by Tony Croft aka hamadryad

[kinderscout]

Looking at these pictures i would not like to even try reopen any of these graves.

[Dorset Hedgelayer]

during summer months one of my contracts is grass cutting in a graveyard, all the yrs and all the summers/weather Ive done it, it ALWAYS grows like mad, and I can only put it down to the nutrients in the ground, there is know where else that I cut grows like it

[TGB]

I wonder though, on average they are buried 6 feet so tree roots especially Ash wouldn't get that far down, and if they did the body would have long since dissolved, Sorry to be so graphic!

Dissolved - now that's a notion to ponder. British cemetery bodies decompose and over varying periods of time; largely dependent on soil. It can take less than a year or tens of years for most of the body to go. But there's usually bits which take a good deal longer than the rest, (teeth, the lower jaw, the nasal area, upper leg bones).

 

These days, the first one in, is generally 6'6" to 7' down. Then re-openers get progressively closer to the surface, until the last one in is only a 1ft or a little less from the surface. As the coffin collapses, shown on the surface be a small formed depression. Soil is added to level the ground. Just in case you're wondering, there's always a supply of readily available soil, as with every grave, there's excess fill. You just barrow it from one place to another.

[Treeation]

Really great photos!!

 

I know this grave yard very well. Spent 6 months full time clearing ash and sec regen here 7 or so years ago on a lottery funded project. Very tight felling (from ground) and really difficult to not hit grave stones or get hung up. Some of the grave stones were so fragile that they would crumble if you brushed them with a bit of brash. It was a a shame that a lot of graves had been forgotten about.

 

It was a great project and a steep learning curve.