The Sun.
London, England, 1853-04-13 00:00:00

METROPOLITAIV-EXTRAMURAL SEPULTURE:

TO THE EDITOR or THE BUN.
SlR,—Observing from the Parliamentary Reports
that Lord Palmerston last night, in answer to a ques-
tion.put by Mr. Digby Seymour, repeated what he said
to Mr. Whalley on the 18th of March relative to
the, desire felt by Ministers to put an immediate
end to intramural interments— adding, "Ile thought
the course of applying for orders in Council would
be followed by shutting up all the graveyards in
the metropolis • whilst, with regard to arrangements for
burial beyond the limits of the metropolis, these arrange-
' ments must rest with the parishes concerned ; but he
apprehended that the great extent of ground which had,
he believed, been purchased near Woking for that pur-
pose would be amply sufficient to meet all demands of
the metropolis for a good time to come;" allow me to
request the favour that you will insert the annexed copy
of a letter which I addressed to his Lordship, on the 2d
inst., on the above subject.
The length of my letter will not, I hope, preclude its
insertion, seeing that it relates to a question of universal
metropolitan interest, at a moment when 176 parish
boards, deficient in all the requisites for such a task, are
attempting the organisation of new burial institutions.
I am further led to ask this favour, as throughout the
long discussions on the two Metropolitan Burial Acts,
no paper has opened its columns so wide, or rendered
such valuable services to the cause of Extramural Se-
pulture, as has the Sum

I remain, Sir, yours, very faithfully,
R. BROUN, Bart.

April 9, 1853.

EXTRAMURAL SEPULTURE.

COPY OF LETTER TO LORD PALMERSTON,. M.P. SECRETARY
OF STATE FOR THE HOME DEPARTMENT.

Sphinx Lodge, Chelsea, April 2, 1853.
MY LORD,—From a report by Mr. B.eywood, Sur-
veyor to the City Commissioners of Sewers, on the sub-
ject of Extramural Sepulture for the City of London
(noticed in the morning papers of yesterday), it appears
that the Court of Common Council entertain the idea of
providing a cemetery for those dying within the juris-
_ diction of the City, or having present right of burial in
the churchyards, &c., situated within its limits.
2. The 9th clause of the Metropolitan Burials Act of
last session ordains and declares " That no new burial-
ground or cemetery (parochial or non-parochial), shall be
provided and used in the metropolis, or within two miles
of any part thereof, without the previous approval of one
of her Majesty's Principal Secretaries of State" ; whilst
the 53d clause ordains and declares " That for the pur-
poses of this act, the expression 'the metropolis' shall be
construed to mean and include the Cities and Liberties
of London and Westminster, the Borough of South-
wark, and the parishes, precincts, townships, and places
mentioned in schedule A. of said act.
3. By reference to this schedule, your L ordship will
perceive that the said " Metropolis,' or, in other words
Metropolitan Burial District, takes in a radius from St.
Paul's Cathedral, varying from six to ten and twelve
miles, embracing, in addition to the cities and liberties
of London and Westminster, and the borough of South-
wark, 63 parishes or other districts in the county of
Middlesex, 6 parishes in the county of Kent, and 19
parishes or other districts in the county of Surrey.
4. Considering, my Lord, that the " Metropolis" thus
defined embraces a population of nearly three million
souls—a population double that of Wales, which nearly
equals that of Scotland, and exceeds the number of
men, women, and children scattered over the entire
extent of fourteen English counties and that the
Roman maxim, " Salus populi supremo . est Lex,"
is recognised and allowed to be a fundamental prin-
ciple in the legislative enactments of every civilised
State, it may be justly said the atmosphere of London
extends on all sides to at least a distance of 15 miles ;
and considering that no cemeteries or burial-grounds can
be established without contaminating the earth, the
water, and the air of the various localities in which they
are situated, your Lordship will readily see that the
strongest sanitary objections exist against depositing,
year by year, 60,000 to 70,000 corpses within even so
near a distance as two miles from the boundary described
by the Burials Act of 1852, in any one direction.
5. But, my Lord, did no sanitary reasons whatsoever
exist against our changing the present noxious system
of burial within walls to one to be carried out at short
distances from the metropolis, there are other weighty
considerations arising from public convenience, from
economy, and from decency, which ought to lead your
Lordship and the Government strenuously to resist the
same. As yet, the legislation of Parliament for the rec-
tification of the enormous social evils in the system of
metropolitan interment has fallen altogether short of
the requirements in the case ; and as the second Burials
Act will be found in practice as unworkable as was the
first, for reasons which I shall shortly develope, I avail
myself of the appearance of Mr. Haywood's report to
draw your Lordship's special attention to the accompany-
ing copy of a memorial which Mr. Sprye and myself pre-
sented in May last to the Lord Mayor and Common
Council, and also to two memorials of ours, addressed to
the Lords of the Treasury in 1850, descriptive of the
NECROPOLIS at Woking, of which we are the joint pro-
jectors and founders.
6. A perusal of these 3 documents will, I feel confident,
satisfy your Lordship that we have accomplished for the
inhabitants of this vast metropolis in all time coming
everything that is necessary to insure henceforth cheap,
convenient, wholesome, and decent sepulture ; and such
being the case, your Lordship would incur the heaviest
responsibilities as a Minister of the Crown and a guar-
dian of the public weal, were you in any one instance to
grant your approval to the formation of any new burial
ground or cemetery within t IVO miles at least of the
limits of the " metropolis," as defined by the Burials
Act of last session.
7. I have said, my Lord, that the Burials Act of 1852
will be found as unworkable as the Interments Act of
1850, and I will shortly state my reasons for coming to
this conclusion. The moment the 200 existing metropo-
litan graveyards are closed, the whole practice of sepul-
ture will resolve itself into a matter of pounds, shillings,
and pence. The question with every householder will
then be, " Where can I cheapest bury my dead !" Such
being the case, it is self-apparent that so long as the
eight suburban cemeteries and the London Necropolis
exist, no cheaper burial will be found within
twenty-five miles of London than what they will
collectively supply. The eight cemeteries are much
nearer to the city than any which the law will
now allow to be established, and hence conveyance to
them will be greatly less expensive than conveyance
would be to other cemeteries and burial-grounds in their
respective vicinities, but some miles farther out of town ;
whilst as regards railway conveyance, the Necropolis
Company has secured the only city terminus and line at
all adapted for the special purpose of removing the dead
out of London without occasioning public disturbance,
alarm, and indecency. A single glance at the map of
London will satisfy your Lordship that such is the fact.
8. That whilst such is the case, there is no need what-
soever, as regards convenience, sanitation, or economy,
for one single foot more of burial-ground than what the
eight suburban.cemeteries and the Necropolis conjointly
furnish. The small area 0f176 acres of parochial graveyards,
and 42 acres of Dissenters' burial-grounds, have sufficed
to inhume generation after generation of the metropolitan
dead for upwards of 1,000 years ; whilst not only the
lawful spirit of commercial enterprise but also an en-
lightened philanthropy have, within the last and present
reigns, furnished eight beautiful suburban cemeteries,
containing collectively 282 acres of land (of which about
17 acres only had been used when the Board of Health
made their report in 1850), and one NECROPOLIS, or
" City for the Dead," comprising an area of 1,500 acres,
an act for the establishment of which was passed last
session—making the whole 1,782 acres.
9. As the floor, my Lord, of an acre of ground will
suffice to receive 3,887 coffins laid side by side, we have
at this moment, in lieu of 200 petty festering grave-pits
dispersed amongst our hearth-seats and altars—which
have engulphed the mortality of London since an era
antecedent to the Norman Conquestan existing virgin
grave accommodation in our eight cemeteries and one
necropolis for upwards of 6i millions of bodies—a space
which it would take upwards of 1.00 years to cover with
one layer of corpses at 7 feet deep, burying yearly from
from 60,000 to 70,000 ; 200 years to cover with a second
layer at 6 feet deep; and 300 years to cover with a third
layer at 5 feet deep.
10. Hence then, my Lord, for all purposes of sanitary
interment, we have as much burial ground, authorised
already by acts of Parliament, as the inhabitants of the
metropolis can require even until the last trumpet shall
sound, and the dead arise. And if as regards a suffi-
ciency of wholesome grave space no necessity exists for
establishing so much as even one other burial-yard or
cemetery, an inspection of the burial map of London
will suffice to convince your Lordship that the position
Of the eight suburban cemeteries and the necropolis
leaves nothing to be desired as regards convenience—
each of the former being in the immediate precincts of
the metropolis at intervening distances from each other
of two or three miles ; whilst, for all practical purposes,
the necropolis at Woking may be said to be as approxi-
mate to the centre of London as Charing-cross is near to
the Mansion-house.

11. Again, as regards economy the site of the necro-
polis, which is reachable from the Waterloo station in
45 minutes, has been obtained for 1051. per acre less
than the average price asked for the 15 estates tendered
to the Board of Health under the Ist Metropolitan In-
terments Act ; and for 4601. ss. per acre less than the
average price paid for sites alone by 16 established
cemetery companies ; whilst, as regards conveyance, the
London and South-Western Railway Company are
bound by their arrangement with Mr. Sprye and my-
self, to take down from the Waterloo station to Woking,
a Hearse-van capable of containing 50 coffins in sepa-
rate compartments, for 11. per trip—or less than 6d.
each ; and to carry mourners to and from the necropolis
and London at the respective low fares of-65., first class ;
3s. 6d., second class • and 25., third class.
12. Such being the case, my Lord, and seeing from
Mr. Heywood's Report that the average mortality of
the city of London does not exceed 3,139 deaths per
annum, what necessity is there, let me ask, for the Cor-
poration to establish a city cemetery? The poor of this
annual civic mortality (amounting to 78 per cent. of the
whole) can find separate graves at the necropolis seven
feet deep, which will not be re-opened for ten years un-
less at the request of a relative, conveyance, and funeral
rites, for the sum total of 14s. ; and as for the rich (22
per cent, of the above deaths), they have the choice of
eight suburban cemeteries and the necropolis where to
bury their dead. There is then no necessity whatsoever
for a city cemetery ; and seeing this projected burial
ground cannot, without a violation of the law, be ma de
nearer to the Guildhall than at least eight miles,
and
that the expense of conveyance by railway to a place of
interment is about the same, whether the distance to be
travelled is five miles, or 25 miles—l venture to say that
if a site unexceptionable in all respects could be found
within eight or ten miles of the centre ofiandon (which
it cannot be), and if the proposed city cemetery was con-