How deep are graves?

[Hex]

My character is digging up the bones of the dead (he's that sort of chap) in a graveyard of uncertain age in modern(ish) Edinburgh.

Is it remotely feasible that he could lie on his stomach and reach into a broken coffin? Or would he have to climb down into the grave to reach the bones?

Thank you very much, in advance, for any responses.

 

[Boneman]

Six feet, I think... they worry about animals digging down (and grave-robbers) or erosion of soil by rain etc. Every funeral I've been to has at least six feet down in the grave...

 

[Hex]

Bah. I knew six feet was the traditional depth but I wondered if it was consistent. Guess his arms won't be quite long enough...

 

[Jo Zebedee]

My gran's was too far down to be reached, for aure. But! Don't they sometimes bury more than one person in a grave? If so is it above the first coffin?

Anyway, why not pm Perp. Surely he'd be the very man to ask? Or he might know someone he could check with?

 

[Boneman]

I have a character who has to climb out of a buried coffin, so I put her in a pauper's grave, where they didn't dig quite as deep... Is there a funeral? If not have some lazy gravediggers, who don't put it so deep? Maybe there's a scandal waiting to be heard? Maybe they bury your character on top of another because they've run out of room?

crossed with springs, about the on-top situation!

 

[Hex]

I was kind of hoping Perp might be wandering by. I can redo it, though. The mc just needs to be that little bit more acrobatic.

(they're old, old bones and he's not interested in whose...)

 

[psychotick]

Hi,

I speak from my long experience as a grave robber! (Well a public health official. All disinterments have to be overseen by one of us in New Zealand.)

Traditionally six feet good and true is the depth, but it depends on all sorts of factors. The type of soil and its hardness, whether you have a mechanical digger, the height of the water table, and occasionally whether its meant to be for two. (Occasionally what happens is that a grave is dug for a child and then is later deepened so that a parent can rest with said child, the child's coffin usually resting on the parents. It's sad but it happens.) Most disinterments I've attended have had a grave deep enough that the diggers have been standing in it on top of the coffin.

However, one of my colleagues attended one where a river was threatening to wash away a cemetary and thirty some graves had to be dug up, where because they were old and because the water had been active, the coffins were almost at surface level. Another was a good ten feet at a guess, simply because the soil was loose pumice and animals could have dug down if it was any shallower.

Cheers, Greg.

 

[Abernovo]

As per psychotick's post, it can vary. Six feet to two metres is generally the norm, but I know of a few that were only about a metre down.

It varied in the past, especially considering it was all done by hand and it's hard work. (I once had a job digging ditches and I've cut the peats, so I fully sympathise any old-time gravedigger saying, "Sod this for a lark!" on a miserable, wet late afternoon when the pub looked much more tempting, even if I don't condone cutting corners, of course. )

The other thing to remember is that the ground level changes. Usually, it gets higher over time, as more dust and detritus builds up. However, you get land slippage, subsidence, and erosion. Similar to the sea taking ground away, removing one of those stone walls* that often surround the cemeteries of Edinburgh and other old cities can lead to gradual erosion and slope failure, leaving the coffins more easily accessible.

*Planning laws would usually prevent this, but they've not always been as strictly enforced as they are today, and the wall might have been damaged anyway.

 

[Foxbat]

If I remember correctly six feet is how deep they go now but they used to be less than that. 1665 (I think) was the time it changed. This was because of the plague and an order by the mayor of London to try and contain the disease. Anyways, if your grave is older than 1665 then you could probably get away with a shallower one.

 

[AnyaKimlin]

A lot depends on where the bedrock is. Six feet is desirable but there can be 5-6 coffins in the same grave. I'm fairly sure Edinburgh is the traditional depth and number of coffins. If it is the top coffin then you could probably reach in or if it is buried somewhere they can't dig six feet down.

 

[Bowler1]

A lot would depended on how much time you have to hide, ahem, bury the body. To twist the thread a little, many cultures raise bodies up and don't bury them - but may not live in Edinburgh. Vaults and Crypts are no doubt used by Scots and would involve no digging what so ever. Digging is hard work as Abernovo has pointed out, why not try sourcing bones that don't involve so much hard work and muck?

 

[paranoid marvin]

I'm not an expert, but I would be surprised if there were many people buried within arms reach of the surface.

 

[Ursa major]

I'm not an expert, but I would be surprised if there were many people buried within arms reach of the surface.

...if only because the body has to be buried out of 'arm's way....

 

[AnyaKimlin]

I know it's Australia but there is a scene in Dr Blake Mysteries (currently on BBC iplayer) where they dig up a grave in the dead of night. I wondered if it was any use to you.

 

[Hex]

Oops -- I meant to post this yesterday and clearly got distracted: Thank you for the answers! I think, realistically, he might need to jump down into the grave to get the bones out. I'll bear this information in mind, though, and almost certainly use it in future...!

And thanks, I'll have a look at iplayer!

 

[David Evil Overlord]

Also, what did people believe at the time the body was buried? If they thought the dead might rise, they might bury the body deep (and maybe face down, so any zombie would dig forever and never get out). If they thought there might be grave robbers, deep again.

But, if they've been civilised for a long time, they might be running out of room to bury bodies. Some places, that leads to limited tenure on a grave. So places like that could start deep and end up shallow as graves are reused without removing the original tenants.

Or maybe posthumous evictions for the cemetery trust is your hero's job?

 

[scientia]

Is it remotely feasible that he could lie on his stomach and reach into a broken coffin? Or would he have to climb down into the grave to reach the bones?

A vault is about 32" high. When you do a double burial, you dig the grave 7' deep. This allows enough room to put a second vault on top of the first one. You normally have about 18-24" between ground level and the top of the vault. A depth of less than 5' for single burial is pretty typical.

The actual burial depth varies some from state to state in the US. For example, New York requires 3' above the casket if there is no vault (this would be about 5' total). However, if there is a vault then only 24" are required (this would be about 56" total). In California, only 18" is required above a vault. In Canada, it's typically 0.6 meters (24") over a vault and 0.9 meters (36") without a vault. However, New Brunswick requires a full 1.3 (52") meters above a casket with no vault and that would give you 6'.