Hi People may 'will' their bodies for 'medical science' regardless of relatives feelings. However, once the institution has finished with the remains, by law, the remains must be disposed of appropriately and with proper respect - possibly, also taking into account anything stated in the will (e.g. by cremation or burial... or perhaps handed back to the relatives for them to dispose of ). At Arnos Vale Cemetery, over a long period of time, many 'sets' of remains were either cremated or buried and many of these burials (over 200) took place in the area indicated in the recent news item; a short service would be conducted by a cleric or minister and in the case of burials, the remains would buried as 'common interments'. I feel I should emphasise that the remains were always buried in the proper way with respect and any idea of them being carelessly tossed into a pit would be totally wrong. Some of us who volunteer at the cemetery, felt it was important to mark both the 'gift' of those who wanted their remains to be of some use and, just as importantly, offer a place of focus for grieving relatives who at the time of their loss, had little or no say in what happened to their loved ones remains. We levelled and cleared the area of rubbish nearby and then grassed it. Next weekend, there will be a small ceremony to mark the placing of a simple stone memorial to all those buried there. We have similar plans for another area of the cemetery which was used for the burial of stillborn babies but that's another story. Hope this helps Dave Napier Friends of Arnos Vale Cemetery ----- Original Message ----- From: "Liz" <e.newbery@btinternet.com> To: <bristol_and_district@rootsweb.com> Sent: Thursday, June 10, 2010 7:49 PM Subject: Re: [B&D] Arnos Vale Science Grave to be dedicated > It makes sense to me. After all, once the bodies have been used for > "science" you wouldn't just throw the remains down the drain? Surely > there > would be parts that needed a good burial. > > Liz > www.btinternet.com/~e.newbery > OPC for Street, Somerset > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Roy Stockdill" <roy.stockdill@btinternet.com> >> I'm afraid I don't quite understand this! >> >> Surely if people donated their bodies to medical science they would not >> be >> buried at >> all? Or do you mean their remains were buried after being dissected? If >> so, this >> sounds most disrespectful. >> >> Not that it bothers me but I imagine descendants might be upset. Please >> explain >> further. > > > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > BRISTOL_AND_DISTRICT-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' > without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message

Dave Napier wrote: > Some of us who volunteer at the cemetery, felt it was important to mark both > the 'gift' of those who wanted their remains to be of some use and, just as > importantly, offer a place of focus for grieving relatives who at the time > of their loss, had little or no say in what happened to their loved ones > remains. We levelled and cleared the area of rubbish nearby and then > grassed it. Next weekend, there will be a small ceremony to mark the placing > of a simple stone memorial to all those buried there. Thank you for the clarification :)) > We have similar plans for another area of the cemetery which was used for > the burial of stillborn babies but that's another story. That would no doubt be very much welcomed by those who've had to go through such a traumatic event. -- Charani (UK) OPC for Walton, Greinton and Clutton, SOM Asst OPC for Ashcott and Shapwick, SOM http://wsom-opc.org.uk