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15
FORTY-SIXTH REPORT.
Gentlemen,
During the month of May last, an Order in Council was received
??? the Parish authorities of Rotherhithe to the effect that, "1st.
The coffins in the public vaults beneath the Parish Church of St.
Mary, Rotherhithe, be covered with fresh earth and concrete, and
???hat the existing entrance be bricked up. 2nd. That the works be
???ffected under the superintendence of the Medical Officer of Health
of the district, and that Mr. Dougal’s powder, chlorine, or other
???isinfectants be used whenever necessary.”
The Churchwardens very properly postponed the carrying out of
???his order till the hotter months of summer had passed away, and in
???he meanwhile caused advertisements to be inserted in the newspapers,
warning the public, that any one wishing to have a coffin
removed from the vaults, must make application before the 1st of
September of the current year. One application was made, but no
???ffin was removed.
On the 12th of September, the work was commenced; and it was
???oon found that the number of coffins contained in the vaults had
???een much underrated, that instead of a thousand as stated in one of
???nv previous reports, between sixteen and seventeen hundred had
been deposited there. The first part of the process consisted in
carefully placing the coffins on the floor, as close to each other as
possible, a second tier was then laid above them, and in some places
??? third. Here was the difficult and dangerous part of the labour,
???or in lifting the old leaden coffins many of them cracked, and long
???ent-up fetid gases were exhaled, extinguishing the lights in the
???ands of the men, and making them hurriedly retreat from the spot.
By the use of disinfectants these difficulties were surmounted, and
???o accident happened.
After the coffins had been thus arranged, gravel was thrown in to
fill up the interstices between them, and form a first coating over
them; eighteen inches of concrete was placed above the gravel, so
that the upper surface in a very short space of time became as hard
and as solid as a macadamized road. All apertures leading into the
vaults were then bricked up, with the exception of the air-shafts,
which open on the coping of the wall, thirty-four feet above the
level of the churchyard.
The whole work was conducted with decorum and propriety, and
the most fastidious person could not have found fault with anything
that transpired. When any wooden coffins were found broken up,
the remains of the dead were carefully gathered together and placed
in shells.