#mortsafe

[autistic-af]

Infodump Time:

The Mortsafe

Invented in 1816, the Mortsafe were iron, or iron and stone, cages that were placed over graves to deter Resurrectionists. They were heavy contraptions, requiring at least 2 keys to be used to remove them.

Some were permanent, but many were temporary, used for approximately 4-6 weeks to give the body enough time to decay and therefore no longer be desirable to a body snatcher.

The crimes of Burke and Hare in 1828 skyrocketed fears, and the use of Mortsafes. Churches sometimes purchased them, allowing them to be loaned for a fee. There were also Societies that formed which sold the Mortsafes for an annual fee.

[disease]

A mortsafe or mortcage was a construction designed to protect graves from disturbance and used in the United Kingdom. Resurrectionists and Night Doctors had supplied schools of anatomy since the early 18th century. This was due to the necessity for medical students to learn anatomy by attending dissections of human subjects, which was frustrated by the very limited allowance of dead bodies—for example the corpses of executed criminals—granted by the government, which controlled the supply.

[mortsafepod]

[ID: a badly edited valentines image with a purple background and a picture of an old mort safe on it. Curly red text progressively gets smaller as it reads “Are you a Mort Safe? Because I want you to hold me until I start to decompose past the point where I can be used for medical research”]

[quickwitter]

MORTSAFES ©Lindsay Fitzharris

I learned today that Mortsafes were placed over burial sites. This cage-like structure was partially buried within the grave and surrounded the entire coffin. After a suitable amount of time—once the body had decomposed and was rendered useless to the anatomists—the mortsafe could be removed. Did ya’ll know this?

[theonewiththevampires]

This is a mortsafe; they were created to protect your loved ones from resurrectionists who wanted to steal their corpses and sell them to medical schools. This is not an anti-vampire device. 

People who were suspected of being vampires were often buried upside down. Sometimes they would have a weight on them or a stake already through them. They made have been dug up and reburied with their head at their feet, or they might have a sickle over their neck or bricks/stones under their chin. But not a cage over them. 

[mysteriesofthemacabre]

Mortsafes seen in Greyfriars Kirkyard, Edinburgh, Scotland. Grave robbing was a big issue in the early 18 hundreds the most famous thieves being Burke and Hare, who sold the corpses to knox’s medical school for dissection. Fun fact: they only received abut 7 or 8 pounds per body! Funner fact: Burke, as a part of his punishment, was dissected himself at a medical school after his execution!! 

(source: Edinburgh Surgeons Hall Museum) 

[moonandserpent]

Mortsafe, hand carved silver pendant by  Moon & Serpent

For news, giveaways and more jewelry please follow me on Instagram @moonandserpent or Tumblr moonandserpent.tumblr.com or Facebook->

Mortsafes were heavy iron contraptions of rods and plates placed over the coffins. They were invented in the 19th Century to protect graves from disturbance. Grave robbery was frequent during that time in Scotland due to the necessity for medical students to learn anatomy. Some say that in Victorian Era cemeteries, these cages were intended to trap the undead, to prevent the corpses reanimate as vampires.

[informativesisters]

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