From Lancashire to Derbyshire for burial!

[sallyyorks]

Coffin/Corpse Roads


http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corpse_road

"..Corpse roads provided a practical means for transporting corpses, often from remote communities, to cemeteries that had burial rights, such as parish churches and chapels of ease.[1] In Britain, such routes can also be known by a number of other names: bier road, burial road, coffin road, coffin line, lyke or lych way, funeral road, procession way, corpse way etc. Such "church-ways" have developed a great deal of associated folklore regarding wraiths, spirits, ghosts, etc.....Many of the corpse roads have long disappeared, while the original purposes of those that still survive as footpaths have been largely forgotten, especially if features such as coffin stones or crosses no longer exist. Fields crossed by church-way paths often had names like "Church-way" or "Kirk-way Field", and today it is sometimes possible to plot the course of some lost church-ways by the sequence of old field names, local knowledge of churches, local legends and lost features of the landscape marked on old maps, etc. One of the oldest superstitions is that any land over which a corpse is carried becomes a public right of way."

[ThrelfallYorky]

I agree that the Railway would almost certainly have been the simplest and most logical way to move a body. Remember: there was at that time a lot more concern in most people of families being "laid to rest" together, often in family plots or vaults, and I believe that some felt that that was preferable to being buried nearer where they died, (where they did not have family graves,) or in Municipal Cemeteries. Are other members of the family in the same place in Charlesworth? Parents, spouses or children can be an especially firm tie

[GrahamH]

I assume the burial was at Top Chapel (St Mary Magdalen Independent Chapel). Many people born in Charlesworth (including some of my relatives) were buried there even though they spend their adult lives in other areas.

As for taking people some distance for burial, a 3xGreat uncle of mine died at Edale, 2nd January 1854, whilst visiting friends. The roads at that time were impassable to ordinary vehicles owing to the snow, so the coffin was tied to a ladder and sledged by that means to Glossop, where he was interred.

[jane harrison]

     Have you considered the body being transported by canal
     this method was used all the time by Canal boatmen I have relatives who died in
     London & their body was fly boated (Non Stop so as not to pay lock & area tolls ect)
      to Northampton & Warwickshire. Cotton weaver company's often used canals for goods 

[Little Juan]

The route was well served by the M6 of the day:




The old Packhorse route -

[Heather Spencer]

Hello! I'm new to this site so I apologise in advance but I am looking to connect with Fridayschild as I believe we are related. My grandmother was Myfanwy Simon, brother of Alfred Simon who was killed in WW1. I am trying to connect with relatives. I can't seem to send a private message to anyone so I would be grateful if anyone knows fridayschild could let them know I am looking? I contacted the Loyal North Lancashire site yesterday (8th Nov) and they are going to do an article on Alfred and have a photo of him. Thank you!

[emmsthheight]

Hi

I'm in Cumbria and we have loads of coffin routes over the fells, used from very early times back to horse drawn vehicles or even on foot.

I also know of two people who were returned more recently by train, one across Cumbria in the very early twentieth century when the mourners were also invited to go by train, the other quite close family in the 1940,s from the west Lancashire coast to Salford when the family just sat with the child's coffin on a normal train I think in an area near the guard's van.  It just had to be done.

Best wishes

Emms

[iluleah]

Hello! I'm new to this site so I apologise in advance but I am looking to connect with Fridayschild as I believe we are related. My grandmother was Myfanwy Simon, brother of Alfred Simon who was killed in WW1. I am trying to connect with relatives. I can't seem to send a private message to anyone so I would be grateful if anyone knows fridayschild could let them know I am looking? I contacted the Loyal North Lancashire site yesterday (8th Nov) and they are going to do an article on Alfred and have a photo of him. Thank you!

Hi Heather and welcome to rootschat

You need to have 3 posts, which you now have and you can then PM , they should also get a notification each time someone answers their post ( unless they haven't ticked to receive one)

[jaybelnz]

If your deceased ancestor was taken somewhere for burial by rail between 1851 and 1871, in the Manchester, Lincoln and Sheffield area,  he may well have been attended by my great great grandfather!

During those years, census and employment records info I have gathered tells me he was Passenger Agent and Clerk In Charge of Freight at those Railway Stations!  Lived on the premises with his family! 

Cheers
Jeanne 😄