The Dead House

From the 18th century medical students were required to study anatomy. As the legal supply of bodies from executed criminals was limited, a lucrative industry grew up, particularly near university towns, where £7 to £10 per cadaver could be earned! To thwart the Body Snatchers or Resurrectionists from grave robbing, it became necessary to protect new graves with metal cage covers or heavy stone slabs. An armed guard could be hired or poor families would keep a grim watch overnight. The Sexton’s Book in Crail records measures being taken to protect graves in the early 1820s.

Crail Church built this Dead House (also known as a Mort House) in 1826. Bodies were stored here until they had decayed enough to be unusable for anatomy before being buried in the churchyard.

A new Anatomy Bill in 1832 brought in regulations for those studying the human body and ended the grisly history of the Body Snatchers.

Continue your circuit of the Church looking at the monumental tombs around the kirkyard walls.