Uprooting graves:

[Iain...]

Can some tell me if there's a European law to stop Belgian authorities uprooting graves, throwing all the remains into one communal grave then selling off the land to make a fast buck ? 

The thought gives me the shivers, but this is what’s going to happen at my local church cemetery, and I’m certain that this is rife throughout the country.    It’s not even as if there was a dire need for place as there’s about one-fifth of the cemetery empty.

http://maps.google.com/maps?q=Baillonville,+Belgique&hl=en&ll=50.28789,5.337463&spn=0.00103,0.00284&hnear=Baillonville,+Namur,+Walloon+Region,+Belgium&t=f&z=19&vpsrc=6&ecpose=50.28742625,5.3374631,274.15,-0.001,28.86,0

For those interested, I can supply more information.

[Nick29]

Not sure about EU or Belgian law, but when I was taking a look around the cemetary in Ipswich this week, there were lots of official notices listing graves whose lease had expired, with warnings that if relatives didn't renew the lease, then the land would be cleared.  Sadly, these days it's impossible to lease land in perpetuity without money changing hands at regular intervals.

[stanmapstone]

As far as a Church of England churchyard is concerned a body cannot be removed from consecrated ground for burial elsewhere without the legal application  for and the granting of a faculty.
In municipal cemeteries there are Purchased Graves where the applicant purchases the Exclusive Right of Burial in this grave, effectively forming a private grave and giving the family of the deceased control of any future burials in that grave. The owner of the Right must give written permission before any burial can take place in a purchased grave. The Exclusive Right has a fixed term - usually 100 years after which time control of the grave is returned to the relevant authority. Un-purchased Graves are also known as 'Common' or 'Public' graves. The relevant authority retains control of the burials in these graves. Burial Law used to require a 14 year interval between successive burials in one of these graves, (unless the deceased were from the same family), but this law has since been repealed.

Stan

[Iain...]

Hmm !   Thanks Nick !

The system does seem to be totally indifferent in respect of our heritage and civil rights.   Meaning that we could have an Einstein or Napoleon buried there..., and simply because they have no surviving relatives, bones and wood will eventually be used for the local Halloween bonfire night.  

It somehow puts a damper on the idea that in 3-hundred years time, our descendants can surf RootsChat before searching for their “physical” roots in the local cemetery.            
As such, that “eternity” aspect of a new tombstone will no longer have the same consideration as all those century-old stones we adore admiring and learning from.  

There’s something wrong here !  Are we slowly moving to the virtual cemetery ?

[Iain...]

As far as a Church of England churchyard is concerned

Stan

Thanks Stan !   Seems a bit complicated..., especially for someone who is furious that he can't find the graves of 4xGr and 3xGr Grandfathers.    Always thought that resting places were for eternity.   

[Luzzu]

Malta is in the EU and "grave cleaning" goes on regularly here.  They are running out of space and we don't yet have a crematorium on the island  Our graves are a little different in that there is no soil covering the coffins.  They are sealed with cement and covered with marble.  The graves are like small rooms and I believe, although I haven't seen it myself, that its possible to see the remains from previous burials.  When a grave is "cleaned" more space is made for new burials.  If it is a public grave any remains are removed to an ossuary at the cemetery, if its a private grave I think they remain in the grave but are moved to another area within the grave.  I don't think I grave can be re-opened for two years even if another death occurs in the family.

http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20101202/letters/death-and-indignity-at-addolorata-cemetery.338834

Luzzu  

[Nick29]

Hmm !   Thanks Nick !

The system does seem to be totally indifferent in respect of our heritage and civil rights.   Meaning that we could have an Einstein or Napoleon buried there..., and simply because they have no surviving relatives, bones and wood will eventually be used for the local Halloween bonfire night.  

It somehow puts a damper on the idea that in 3-hundred years time, our descendants can surf RootsChat before searching for their “physical” roots in the local cemetery.            
As such, that “eternity” aspect of a new tombstone will no longer have the same consideration as all those century-old stones we adore admiring and learning from.  

There’s something wrong here !  Are we slowly moving to the virtual cemetery ?

Well, there is the other side to the coin - I'm sure that like me, you must have visited churchyards looking for clues, and have seen the terrible state that some of the graves are in.  All looking very forlorn and unloved.  My grandmother had 11 children, and I think it's quite possible that no-one at all has visited her grave in the last 15 years.  My mother and father were both cremated, and (at their own request) their ashes were scattered in a place of rememberance, and there are no headstones.  According to something I read on the BBC News website today, the population of the planet has increased by 5 billion people since I was born.  That's enough space to find for people to live, without finding a 2 metre square plot for everyone that dies. 

[Ray T]

Has anyone ever visited the "Catacombs" in Paris? http://www.catacombes-de-paris.fr/english.htm The tunnels are filled with the bones of thousands of Parisians excavated from various cemeteries over many years. There is clearly nothing new in clearing graves and its legality will depend upon the law in force in the particular country. 

[stanmapstone]

Ossuaries, or Charnel houses where the bones of the dead were kept are most often associated  with the overcrowded graveyards of, usually, urban churches. There was one in the churchyard of Old St. Paul's, in London, and one that has survived is that of St. Leonard's at Hythe in Kent. http://www.stleonardschurchhythekent.org/History/HouseofBones.html

Stan