The Digital Library of British Mortuary Science & Investigation

"The Coffin was full of pickle...pungent...resembling a strong solution of nitre...I have his Beard wch the Archdeacon gave me leave to take". Duke Humphrey's coffin 'pickle' at St Albans Abbey was one of many 'ancient' church tombs opened in the 18th century for an early type of 'forensic study' and 'dark tourism'. Some decried it as disrespectful; others saw a new (Protestant) science of 'archaeology' emerging. Medieval saints' and royal remains had also received similar 'forensic' study long before the Reformation. So, when did study of the long-dead emerge? How has it shaped modern science, history, archaeology, and Church heritage?

Tomb opening today is rare and 'respectful' and burial inside churches largely ended in the 1850s. But the 2013 reburial of Richard III threatened more tomb openings around Europe, reigniting volatile, unresolved debates: what rights do the historic dead have? Do new tests justify invasive studies? What constitutes 'respectful' if it has been defined in different ways at different times in the past? And how can we link the history of Christian belief in Britain with modern funerals for reburying ancient human remains in churches? These questions are vital for shaping public policies and codes of practice in historic churches today.

Unlike the return of human remains to their indigenous homelands, debates surrounding the excavation and reburial of the Christian dead has not yet received dedicated, large-scale attention, yet requests to find and investigate famous graves surged after Richard III's discovery. Rescue archaeology inevitably uncovers the dead from ancient Christian contexts as well; how can we ensure that handling, storing, and reburying them aligns with past beliefs?

To assist Church policymakers, archaeologists, and researchers, a digital library of Historic British Mortuary Science & Investigation is proposed. This would outline the first history of pre-20th century burial, scientific history and archaeology and offer the first survey of current and historic investigations of the church dead in Britain since records began in c.7th century AD. It would provide advocates and policymakers much-needed evidence to inform their strategies and responses at local and national levels. Cutting-edge digital analysis of the language used to report past mortuary investigations and reburials can reveal what has historically been considered 'respectful treatment', offering context and advice for how we 'respectfully' conduct and record such disturbances today. This new knowledge can anchor ethical, procedural, and religious debates in their historic contexts; advance histories of science, medicine, religion, law and death; and guide practices and policies from academic, Church, and heritage sectors as custodians of our inherited dead.
Alongside the digital library, a cross-sector network called 'The Human: Remains Collaboratory' will be established, bringing together academics and non-academics, advisory networks, charities, and professional services involved in managing historic human remains from churches. Members will be able to share research, identify points of collaboration; support new and on-going research in this area; and work with the project team.

Through international partnerships with other scholars and stakeholders, the library will share this world-leading model and data beyond the UK and later include non-Church examples for comparison. The library thus provides the foundation from which Britain can lead a new generation of scholars on this topic; promote further interdisciplinary research within and beyond the UK; establish a dedicated line of research in collaboration with churches, museums, libraries, archives, historic cemeteries (etc.); and generate ground-breaking research. My aim is to eventually create a Centre for Historic Mortuary Management and Investigation to continue this vital research and respond to modern concerns as they evolve.

As this project focuses on assisting conservation of church burials, the research will strongly benefit all those who oversee interventions with the historic fabric of churches and who need guidance regarding the impact of proposed repairs, alterations, and building work on the burials. This includes advisory panels, cathedral archaeologists, churchwardens, cathedrals with a Clerk of the Works, and clergy directing decisions.

Where disturbance and/or reburial is unavoidable, the library database will serve as a guide for managing expectations of what is likely to be found given the history of intervention in that burial context, and for anticipating how human remains may have been treated 'respectfully' during the process, informing modern reburial strategy. The library can help academic and commercial archaeologists, exhumation professionals, and clergy navigate the tension between modern and period-specific burial rites, 'respect' and ethics.

The library can also assist field and commercial archaeologists excavating burials from 'lost' churches, conversion-period cemeteries with no church (sixth-eighth centuries AD), and burials of the dead in non-Church contexts who may have Christian affiliation (e.g. battlefield dead; infant burials outside church perimeters etc.) think through how best to handle, report, and eventually rebury those dead.

Where collections of human remains from church contexts are being reburied after being stored in institutional collections, the results of the project may assist the treatment and rites afforded the dead, by offering details of reburial practice from the era they died in. This is in addition to the library's influence on interpreting and contextualising excavated burials, and acting as a repository for adding new cases beyond the lifetime of the fellowship. The inclusion of the library's database in the online, open-access Church Heritage Record will further disseminate the research and assist its users.

The widespread public interest in church burials means the library will fulfil this interest in several ways. Firstly, it will allow the public to research the resting places of numerous well-known individuals buried in cathedrals and churches across Britain. This in turn may encourage them to visit the burial, and thus encourage footfall to churches and cathedrals, enhancing Britain's heritage and tourism industry. Visitors can also find out more information about a particular tomb, shrine, or burial context via the library following a visit, so the library and church will create reciprocal traffic between themselves.

Secondly, the library will offer the church/cathedral public engagement officers, vergers, and volunteers new or updated histories of their mortuaryscape which they can disseminate to the public via guided tours, local talks, education sessions etc. Friends of Cathedral societies can harness this to draw attention and donations to their cathedral.

Thirdly, the local researchers who collaborate with this project will be able to use the library to expand their local history and contextualise it within regional, national, and period-specific events, placing their findings within the larger story, and seeing the role their church/cathedral has played. Follow-on exhibitions, talks, and educational sessions can be created, and generate new public interest in local churches, cathedrals, and their archives. This responds to the call for greater public and scholarly use of religious archives in the UK.

Fourthly, when enquiries and demands for 'famous' church burials or tombs to be (re-) investigated occur, as they have done in recent years, the library will offer a useful shortcut for the decision makers to consult. The very presence of the library may impact the level of enquiry from the public, media, and scholars as the database and case files will highlight what is already known, what has already been found, and what (little) may actually remain.