Exhumation

In 1998 I wrote the ‘Exhumation Handbook’ for the Institute of Burial and Cremation Administration and later managed ‘Necropolis’, a specialist exhumation company. I have project-managed the exhumation of over 25,000 bodies in a wide variety of circumstances and deliver comprehensive exhumation services in association with Burial Ground Services.

My clients are numerous. I work directly for private individuals, local authorities, churches, the police, funeral directors, architects, archaeologists and construction companies. The reasons for exhumation can be tremendously varied and my aim is to ensure that in all cases the work is undertaken in as professional a manner as possible.

Whether it concerns a single body or a site redevelopment, I can provide legal advice to the client and assist in obtaining the appropriate legal authority to undertake the work and health and safety management to complete it safely.

In the case of a single exhumation, if required I can provide a single point of contact and invoice for a wide range of services necessary to complete the work. This can include liaison with all parties involved, preparation of documentation, provision of an appropriate coffin, reinterment, cremation or transport to any desired location including throughout the world.

You may have seen me on Channel 4’s documentary ‘Changing Tombs’ or on BBC 4’s ‘In search of Spanish Flu’. Both productions dealt in a sensitive manner with exhumations under completely different circumstances.

Through my involvement in exhumations, I have enabled:

private individuals to gain peace
churches to better utilise their crypts or build extensions
property developers to create new buildings on derelict burial grounds
police forces to investigate suspicious deaths and identify individuals
public transport to be improved
scientists to access tissue for research.