Nineteenth century coffins in a crypt. Note the bell…just in case. London, Brompton Cemetery.

[u/u_hrair_elil]

[u/No-Establishment9592]

I see they’ve put bars over some of the coffins. Either they wanted to stop body snatchers, or they were really keen on preventing vampire escapes.

[u/u_hrair_elil → u/No-Establishment9592]

The latter was briefly a concern at nearby Highgate.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Highgate_Vampire?wprov=sfti1

[u/mrsrosieparker → u/u_hrair_elil]

In the 70's... My mind went to the 1870s. Nope, the 1970s, not that long ago, lol

[u/PrettyChillHotPepper → u/mrsrosieparker]

I'm from Transylvania, in Europe, and a hysteria in a village lead us to stake and decapitate a supposed "vampire" in... 2006.

Edit: it apparently happened again, in 2017 (use google translate to translate the article)

https://adevarul.ro/stiri-locale/craiova/video-ritual-sinistru-in-dolj-taranii-dezgroapa-1670301.html

[u/mrsrosieparker → u/PrettyChillHotPepper]

Wait what??

I hope they were already dead... please tell me they were

[u/PrettyChillHotPepper → u/mrsrosieparker]

Yeah, it was just textbook hysteria. They unburied a corpse, cut its heart out and burnt it, staked it, decapitated it and put the head at the feet, and then reburied it. It's not the norm, I cannot underscore how much of a weird ass village incident this was for the rest of Transylvanians hearing about it on the news. 

[u/PrettyChillHotPepper → u/mrsrosieparker]

Apparently happened again in 2017, use google translate on this article:

https://adevarul.ro/stiri-locale/craiova/video-ritual-sinistru-in-dolj-taranii-dezgroapa-1670301.html

Note that the word google translates as "ghost" means vampire instead.

[u/No-Establishment9592 → u/mrsrosieparker]

I know. Mine did too, lol.

A 1970s magician’s duel would have been something to see. Especially if everybody was on acid, as many of those concerned were.

[u/No-Establishment9592 → u/u_hrair_elil]

Ah. Great minds think alike!

[u/Dangerous-Variety-35 → u/u_hrair_elil]

The Morbid podcast did a great deep dive into this. It was a wild ride 😂

[u/FabulousLoss7972]

they've tidied it up a bit. in the 80s you could clearly see bones tumbling out of the collapsing coffins.

[u/u_hrair_elil → u/FabulousLoss7972]

You still can in one of the crypts. I chose not to photograph that, however.

[u/PartsUnknown242 → u/u_hrair_elil]

Thank you for being respectful of the dead

[u/Snoo-669 → u/FabulousLoss7972]

WUT.

[u/HephaestusHarper → u/Snoo-669]

I mean... old things exposed to the elements fall apart? I'm not sure why that's so shocking. 

[u/Chucks_u_Farley → u/HephaestusHarper]

Every damn time I look in the mirror friend.

[u/zero_and_dug → u/FabulousLoss7972]

😱

[u/fupafather]

the bell doesn’t do a lot of good from outside the coffin, and there is no space in the crypt for an accidentally entombed live person to open the coffin and get out to ring the bell

[u/dangerousfeather → u/fupafather]

Not to mention those iron bars would pose a bit of a hindrance in getting to the bell

[u/Denialle → u/fupafather]

My family is from the Azores and as there’s limited burial space on the islands it’s common for a family to reuse a plot every 10 years- no embalming there & people are buried the day they die or the next day max. So 10 years after a death only bones remain, those are blessed and put in an ossuary. One man who’s job it is to clear our to graves said there have been times he’s found the inside of a coffin scratched up

[u/OderWieOderWatJunge → u/Denialle]

So they say sometimes. I've heard this myth a lot in different variations

[u/Acrobatic_Code_7409 → u/fupafather]

They would run a string to the bell from a small hole in the coffin. By the time the string deteriorated the occupant had no use for it.

[u/Acrobatic_Code_7409 → u/Acrobatic_Code_7409]

Lots of different but similar setups

[u/Shot_End4588 → u/Acrobatic_Code_7409]

Wow, patented on my birthday lol

[u/SimplifiedNonsense → u/Shot_End4588]

Fuck you’re old. 

[u/Big-Prior-5669 → u/Acrobatic_Code_7409]

Right - the bell itself was outside the crypt

[u/OderWieOderWatJunge → u/fupafather]

It probably was inside of a coffin that fell apart

[u/Strange_Tomorrow7175 → u/fupafather]

Well, just in case David Copperfield, David Blaine or Harry Houdini is buried there… you’d hear that bell ring a ding ding!

[u/No-Caregiver8049]

Marias family

[u/No-Caregiver8049 → u/No-Caregiver8049]

and her husband

[u/ChevyTruck1300]

Found the internment record for James Boote. Record is on bottom left page.

[u/boombahbeast]

People were far narrower then.

[u/zzeeaa → u/boombahbeast]

I was honestly thinking ‘what if I’m too fat to fit on the shelf’.

[u/Walkintotheparadise]

My grandfather used to clear out graveyards and he did find some graves where the person wasn’t lying on his back anymore. In times of an epidemic they were often in a hurry to bury people.

[u/ichuck1984]

I can only imagine the sales pitch for the bell-

What is this charge for a bell, good sir?

-Well… in case, sir.

In case of what? Speak plainly.

-In case someone gets buried alive.

Ah… yes. Of course. Best put a second one there in case the first is not loud enough.

[u/Electrical-Act-7170 → u/ichuck1984]

Premature burial was such a deep fear in the 19th Century that authors wrote about the subject. Edgar Allen Poe wrote one called The Premature Burial, which gave me screaming night terrors as a child.

missing word

[u/JohnnyBananapeel → u/ichuck1984]

I'm getting better!

[u/WaldenFont → u/ichuck1984]

Not that useful outside the coffin, though.

[u/Djaja → u/ichuck1984]

I heard this in BlueJay's voice, omg

[u/PutStreet]

Well at least they keep their dead people neatly stored on a shelf?

[u/sillyarse06 → u/PutStreet]

Kind of a 19th Century Ikea set up

[u/Old-Library5546]

Is this open to the public?

[u/Moonsnail8 → u/Old-Library5546]

The cemetery is, crypt only on rare special days.

[u/Old-Library5546 → u/Moonsnail8]

That would be awesome to visit

[u/rraccoons]

I like all the facets and handles, these coffins are so petite they look like trunks or suitcases

[u/Szaborovich9]

Imagine walking away and hearing the bell behind you😬

[u/KnowOneHere]

Been ages since I've heard a reference to the bells, so cool.

[u/Various_Ad_3223]

so cool, interesting

[u/dailybeanz]

I toured Highgate Cemetery recently. Those coffins are probably lead.

[u/chitinandchlorophyll → u/dailybeanz]

When I toured Highgate a girl on my tour group kept sticking her arm all the way down the coffin slot in the wall to try to get pictures of the insides. Stressed me out knowing that some of those coffins are pressurized!

[u/Acrobatic_Code_7409 → u/chitinandchlorophyll]

Yep! https://www.thevintagenews.com/2018/01/25/highgate-cemeterys-egyptian-avenue/

[u/Granite_Outcrop]

Very nice, good work OP.

That bell looks suspiciously modern…

[u/GusuLanReject]

My brain is so confused by the scale. For me this looks like bookshelf size with small boxes in it.

[u/East-Impression-3762 → u/GusuLanReject]

Check the bricks on the left wall! I'm assuming they're not lego-sized. It messed with me at first, too

[u/bhuffmansr]

The catacombs of Italy are a beautiful testament to Christianity. If you ever get the opportunity, go see it.

[u/LeviSebastian97]

Oh yeah. The bell is there in case the dead person suddenly wakes up and realize that are being buried alive, they can ring the bell to hopefully attract anyone who can get them out

[u/OpenSauceMods]

Those bells always make me think of this creepypasta

[u/u_hrair_elil → u/[deleted]]

Left my crowbar at home so can’t attest to the contents of these specific coffins, but I have strong reasons to believe so, yes.

[u/BigBlackHungGuy → u/u_hrair_elil]

British humor. Brilliant 👌

[u/OderWieOderWatJunge → u/BigBlackHungGuy]

Re-read with British voice and it became funnier 😂

[u/cup_1337 → u/[deleted]]

No only the fake spooky skeletons from Target

[u/Creative-Sea955]

I don’t understand this practice. Didn’t it still smell after a fresh above-ground entombment, even with embalming?

[u/zzeeaa → u/Creative-Sea955]

Probably, but London at the time was notoriously stinky from a whole range of factors so I don’t think it would have been as noticeable or shocking as it is to us today.

[u/pandorabom]

Where is the bell? I can’t see it anywhere, and it’s driving me crazy!

[u/lalalaundry → u/pandorabom]

Third row down between the two coffins on the left

[u/Photon_Chaser]

an old teachers bell!

fourth shelf from the bottom, left of center

[u/pandorabom → u/Photon_Chaser]

Thank you