applied to Public Cemeteries. 



159 



complete cemeteries, consists of picks, spades, shovels, levers, rakes, scrapers, 

 brooms ; a rope and pulley, or block and tackle, to be used with a triangle; 

 planks, ladders, grave-boards, dumcrafts, grave-platforms, grave-boxes, grave- 

 moulds, wheelbarrows, buckets for raising soil, a frame for supporting canvass 

 or a tarpaulin over a grave while being dug during rain; and a temporary struc- 

 ture, consisting of a floor of boards or wooden grating, with three sides and a 

 roof of canvass, rendered waterproof by paint, for the protection of the clergy- 

 man while reading the service at the grave ; with another structure, of a larger 

 size, for sheltering both the clergyman and the mourners. It is only necessary 

 to notice in detail the grave-boards, the earth-boxes, and the temporary 

 structures, as these are required in all burying-grounds. 



The grave-boards are required in almost every case where the grave is dug more 

 than 5 or 6 feet in depth, in order to prevent the sides from breaking down ; and 

 they are, perhaps, the most important implements connected with the ceme- 

 tery. The ordinary custom is, to dig the grave 6 in. or a foot longer than is 

 necessarj' ; to introduce planks, one after another, as the grave advances in 

 depth; and to keep them firmly against the sides by short pieces used as struts 

 at the ends. An improved description of grave-boards has been devised by two 

 superintendants of London cemeteries unknown to each other, viz. Mr. E. 

 Buxton, superintendant of the Nunhead Cemetery, and Mr. Northen, super- 

 intendant of the Tower Hamlets Cemetery. In both improvements the side 

 grave-boards are hinged, so as to form a concave side next the grave, by 

 which means, when they are placed against the sides, they resist the lateral 

 pressure in the manner of an arch. According to Mr. Buxton's invention, 

 one board is put in beneath another as the grave is excavated, and each 

 board is kept in its place by the end struts, which are driven outwards at 

 each end of the grave : but, according to the practice in the Tower 

 Hamlets Cemetery, the boards and end pieces are first joined together, 

 and then let down from the top, one above another, as in well-sinking. 

 The difficulty in both cases is to take the boards out, which must always 

 be done by commencing at the bottom and proceeding upwards, the filling 

 in of the earth over the coffin being carried on at the same time. Were 

 the boards taken out from the top, the earth from the sides would be liable to 

 fall in and bury some of the lower boards, or, in the case of graves 15 or 

 20 feet deep, it might bury the grave-digger. The grave-boards used by Mr. 

 Buxton, the superintendant of the Nunhead Cemetery, are represented in 

 the isometrical view Jig. 37. They are in four parts : two sides, each of 



Fig. 37. The Grave-Boards used in the Nunhead Cemetery. 

 which is hinged on a beveled edge, which renders it impossible for them to 

 get out of their places, and two ends which serve as struts to keep the sides 

 apart. These ends are prevented from dropping out, by cutting the grave 

 rather less than the intended width, and driving the ends, which act as struts, 

 home with a large wooden hammer; in consequence of which they cannot be 

 removed without the aid of a flat-ended lever bar. The sides are kept in 

 their places by the pressure of the soil, against which they act as arches. The 



M 2 



