Should Mourners Carry the Coffin?

The Funeral Director will arrange the transportation and handling of the coffin. Usually four coffin bearers are provided in the service charge. Sometimes, if the coffin is very heavy, six or more may be needed to handle it safely.

A coffin being carried into the funeral service looks very respectful and caring, but there are a number of considerations that must be made.

• Coffin weight. This is the combined weight of the deceased and the coffin (coffin weight starts from about 25kg and can increase considerably with size and construction, combined weight for someone of a small stature can easily exceed 16 stone, 100kg).
• The height of the team of bearers. Ideally they should be all the same height or at least pairings of similar height, the shorter pair carrying at the foot end of the coffin.
• The physical fitness of the bearers.
• Technique of carrying.
• The route of carrying. This must take into account any low doors, narrow aisles or uneven ground (such as that you’ll find in graveyards).
• The emotional state of those carrying. Mourners can be too distressed to undertake the task.

The Funeral Director will make an assessment and advise the family on the etiquette of the establishment or cemetery. Different Funeral Directors may have their own policy which may exclude their staff shouldering coffins, but most will oblige if it is possible and it has been requested.

If family members wish to participate, they will be advised by the Funeral Director. The family can choose to escort a wheeled bier or shoulder the coffin if weight permits. The Funeral Director usually asks for four or six family volunteers but there will be funeral professionals on hand to give instruction and advice. It should be noted that carrying will always be at your own risk.

Watching funerals in films gives the wrong impression. They will nearly always use an empty and specifically light coffin. In reality, it is much harder than it looks and backs and shoulders can easily be injured.

If families wish to carry themselves, they will require some advice from the Funeral Director. This usually takes place on the day of the funeral. The hardest parts of shouldering the coffin is the lift up to shoulder height and taking down to waist height again.

The funeral staff are trained thoroughly – initially with an empty coffin, then with a weighted one in a safe environment with help on hand. Quick verbal instruction at the back of the hearse is not quite the same!

It is usually easier to do at a crematorium service than in a church setting. This is because the coffin is taken from height (the hearse) and placed on the raised catafalque. That is provided that the crematorium doors are high enough to allow for the height of the bearers, the height of the coffin and the height of any flowers on top. The Funeral Director will advise and may suggest that the flowers are taken in separately.

A coffin carried well looks really good and shows care a respect but it should not be undertaken lightly.

History

For anyone interested, here’s a bit of history on the subject as far as England is concerned.

Traditionally, a coffin up until the 15^th century, was carried at waist height. Then a new-fangled bier was invented which took the form of a slatted wooden structure with integral handles and legs. Bear in mind that the method of disposal involved burial and often carrying the coffin quite a distance. This new contraption allowed for setting the coffin down at the church lychgate, in the church or at the graveside in a neat manner.

Prior to this, churches had always provided coffin stools which some still do.

As roads and paths improved, wheeled versions of the bier were eventually to be developed. In the 17^th century, the better surface meant that shouldering coffins became de rigueur.

Poor people or servants of the deceased were selected for the task. In some cases, when epidemics were rife (eg the 1641 great plague), bodies weren’t encoffined but simply shrouded.

Family mourners would walk behind in procession carrying rosemary to ward off the smell.

Churches nowadays usually provide coffin stools, but the Funeral Director makes a decision based on health and safety as to whether the coffin will be carried or moved on a wheeled bier. If a wheeled bier is used, it can be left in place during the service in place of the stools.

Advantages of the wheeled bier are:

• It is a purpose-built piece of equipment to allow the safe transportation of a coffin.
• The people handling the coffin are at a lower risk of injury.
• It is much safer over uneven ground (eg church flagstoned paths or uneven pathways in cemeteries).
• Negotiating low doors and narrow routes.

A few decades ago, Funeral Directors would try to always have the coffin carried, and some still do. However, it is a fact that the population is getting taller and heavier. Not all funerals are for the frail and elderly.

The industry is moving towards the use of the equipment specifically designed to move a coffin safely and away from shouldering. This is to protect their employees from injury (and possible litigation!).