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MORTUARY AND CORONER'S COURT
The new building, which was completed in December 1963, now
consists of seven separate units of accommodation which are independent
but also intercommunicating.
The first unit comprises the Coroner's Court room, which has been
redecorated and refurnished and which has an entrance from the public
gardens to the West of the building, together with new jury and witness
rooms connecting with the officers of the coroner and his officers.
Second is the accommodation for the Coroner and his officers including
general offices, interview rooms and waiting rooms with a main entrance
from Tennis Street to the East of the building.
The third unit comprises the Caretaker's living accommodation planned
as a self contained flat above the Coroner's offices and with its own
entrance from Tennis Street but having direct internal communication with
the mortuary.
Next is the mortuary area itself with autopsy rooms and cold storage
equipment having its own separate entrance from a continuation of Tennis
Street to the North.
The pathologist and staff accommodation forms the fifth unit housed in
the old cottage building which has been altered and redecorated to include
changing rooms and showers together with a secretary's room. This section
again has its own entrance from Tennis Street and from the public gardens.
The sixth unit is the viewing room which is housed in the centre Of
the building. This viewing room provides the only physical link between the
mortuary and the staff office accommodation so that indentific&tion of a
body can be made without the viewer entering the mortuary proper.
The basement forms the last and seventh unit comprising the boiler
house, incinerator, record storage and museum.
As with most specialist design projects of this nature, problems arose
during the initial planning stages. Literature on mortuaries in general was
practically non-existent although the Committee of Clinical Pathologists
was in the process of making a report on mortuary design.
That Committee later reported that, in their view, the majority of
mortuaries in this country were cramped and awkward with few facilities
and that there was very considerable scope for improvements in mortuary units.
Here, in the new Borough Mortuary, continuity of design and special
services play a large part in making this the most advanced building of. its
kind in the country.
The walls and flooring of the mortuary area have been covered with
PVC sheeting sealed to the surfaces with a special adhesive. The sheets
are welded together to ensure a watertight joint and the floor and wall
junctions are coved for easy cleaning and general maintenance.