Receiving vault on:
[Wikipedia]
[Google]
[Amazon]
A receiving vault or receiving tomb, sometimes also known as a public vault, is a structure designed to temporarily store dead bodies in winter months when the ground is too frozen to dig a permanent
The receiving vault was most commonly seen from the 1800s into the early 1900s. The earliest receiving vaults were simple underground chambers dug out of hills. Where the ground was level, the receiving vault was dug into the earth, and a mound heaped over it to mimic a hill. Receiving vaults stored coffins or bodies in loculi, or shelves, set into the walls of the vault. The interiors were simple, and often plain, with heavy lockable doors to prevent entry by grave robbers or body snatchers.
Receiving vaults built from the mid-1800s onward could be either above-ground or below-ground, and ranged from the simple structure with loculi (wall niches) for coffins to beautifully decorated, large, and ornate structures. Some cemeteries co-located a
A receiving vault or receiving tomb, sometimes also known as a public vault, is a structure designed to temporarily store dead bodies in winter months when the ground is too frozen to dig a permanent grave
A grave is a location where a cadaver, dead body (typically that of a human, although sometimes that of an animal) is burial, buried or interred after a funeral. Graves are usually located in special areas set aside for the purpose of buria ...
in a cemetery
A cemetery, burial ground, gravesite, graveyard, or a green space called a memorial park or memorial garden, is a place where the remains of many death, dead people are burial, buried or otherwise entombed. The word ''cemetery'' (from Greek ...
. Technological advancements in excavation, embalming, and refrigeration have rendered the receiving vault obsolete.
Development and use
The receiving vault came into use in parts of the world such as northern Europe, northernNorth America
North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...
, and far southern South America
South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...
, where frozen ground made it difficult or impossible to dig graves during the winter months. In such areas, the receiving vault was used to temporarily store bodies until warmer weather permitted digging. Receiving vaults were also used as a temporary burial site while an elaborate mausoleum
A mausoleum is an external free-standing building constructed as a monument enclosing the burial chamber of a deceased person or people. A mausoleum without the person's remains is called a cenotaph. A mausoleum may be considered a type o ...
or under ground crypt
A crypt (from Greek κρύπτη (kryptē) ''wikt:crypta#Latin, crypta'' "Burial vault (tomb), vault") is a stone chamber beneath the floor of a church or other building. It typically contains coffins, Sarcophagus, sarcophagi, or Relic, religiou ...
was being constructed to house the remains. Occasionally they were used to temporarily bury the remains of an individual until a decision was made regarding a permanent place of burial, or until the family had the funds to arrange for a permanent place of burial.
In times of epidemics, in which large numbers of people could die within days of one another, receiving vaults were often used to hold remains until such time as individual or mass graves could be dug. Disease-bearing corpses were also often stored in the receiving vault until such time as authorities believed it was safe to handle them. Some cemeteries, however, barred the placement of diseased remains in the receiving vault for fear that the vault would become contaminated.
Receiving vaults largely ceased to be built once powered digging equipment, such as the steam shovel
A steam shovel is a large steam engine, steam-powered excavating machine designed for lifting and moving material such as Rock (geology), rock and soil. It is the earliest type of power shovel or excavator. Steam shovels played a major role in ...
and backhoe
A backhoe is a type of excavating equipment, or excavator, consisting of a digging bucket on the end of a two-part articulated arm. It is typically mounted on the back of a tractor or loader (equipment), front loader, the latter forming a "backh ...
, made it possible to dig graves in winter months.
Types
The receiving vault was most commonly seen from the 1800s into the early 1900s. The earliest receiving vaults were simple underground chambers dug out of hills. Where the ground was level, the receiving vault was dug into the earth, and a mound heaped over it to mimic a hill. Receiving vaults stored coffins or bodies in loculi, or shelves, set into the walls of the vault. The interiors were simple, and often plain, with heavy lockable doors to prevent entry by grave robbers or body snatchers.
Receiving vaults built from the mid-1800s onward could be either above-ground or below-ground, and ranged from the simple structure with loculi (wall niches) for coffins to beautifully decorated, large, and ornate structures. Some cemeteries co-located a chapel
A chapel (from , a diminutive of ''cappa'', meaning "little cape") is a Christianity, Christian place of prayer and worship that is usually relatively small. The term has several meanings. First, smaller spaces inside a church that have their o ...
(either next to or above) with the receiving vault to make it easier to hold a funeral in conjunction with the vault's use. The cost of constructing and operating the receiving vault was usually borne by the cemetery. Receiving vaults were usually located toward the center or the rear of a cemetery. Small cemeteries usually used a small, subterranean receiving vault, while larger burying grounds with more income built larger underground or above-ground structures.
See also
* Dead house, usually above ground, with a similar functionReferences
Bibliography
* * * *{{cite book, last=Young, first=Brian J., title=Respectable Burial: Montreal's Mount Royal Cemetery, url=https://archive.org/details/respectableburia0000youn, url-access=registration, location=Montreal, publisher=McGill-Queen's University Press, date=2003, isbn=0773525297 Funeral-related industry Burial monuments and structures