Search ResultsPadlock & key< 1 of 1 > Back from deadsafe at Corstorphine Churchyard, Edinburgh
Padlock & keyThis late 18th century padlock and key are from the deadsafe at Corstorphine Churchyard in Edinburgh. Deadsafes were used to protect the coffin underground for the first six weeks after burial. Relatives were desperate to protect their dead from the resurrectionists or bodysnatchers, who dug up fresh corpses for dissection. The demand for corpses was created by advances in the study of anatomy. Many were afraid that a dissected body would not rise to life at the last judgement. Panic reached its height immediately after the 1828-9 trials of Burke and Hare, whose supply of corpses for sale came not from grave robbing but from murder. Record detailsTo search on related items, click any linked text below.
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