Buried bodies

Your report about "proposed stacking of burials" (15 July) reminded me that this procedure is, or was, prevalent in Aberdeen, as I can testify from personal experience.

The elder of my wife's two two aunts died in 1942, and was buried in the family grave in Trinity Cemetery. The younger died in 1986. The title deeds, which we found in the house, were endorsed "room for one more burial" but the superintendent at Trinity said the grave was full, and proved this by probing it with a metal rod which struck the last coffin at a depth of about 18 inches. He then showed us the Register of Burials, which recorded that 11 burials had taken place. The superintendent said there had been the practice, at each burial, of "collapsing" the coffin of the previous burial, thus making room for more. It was the practice to allow space for any poor people who had no ground of their own, but whether it was with the approval of the owners of the ground, I do not know.

We had to purchase a fresh lair in the new part of Trinity Cemetery. So far as we know, my wife's aunt is the only one buried there, and we have not enquired whether any intruders have found their way there.

DONALD JACK

Summerside Place

Edinburgh