Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Child-safe in minutes.

Meet the Other Phone.
Child-safe in minutes.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Property/DIY

Join our Property forum for renovation, DIY, and house selling advice.

Original poster

House Built on a Graveyard

15 replies

hanahsaunt · 09/02/2012 12:48

That's it really ... house we're in the process of buying is built on a Quaker burial site ... can't quite decide if feeling ok about it is ok, IFYSWIM. Though it does raise the question of what the dc may dig up in the garden. Hopefully won't be as contentious with the mortgage people as finding a Roman sarcophagus in the basement (current saga of a friend of a friend).

OP posts:
Methe · 09/02/2012 12:50

I would kill to find a roman sarcophagus in my basement!

Living over an old graveyard wouldn't bother me at all. I think they have to remove and re-inter the bones else where befre they can build on it.

headfairy · 09/02/2012 12:52

Poltergeist has scarred me for life, I'd be waiting for dd to say "they're here"while staring at the tv

That said, my mum and dad's house is 16th C and there must have been a graveyard in the garden (it used to be a chapel) as there are large yew trees all around it and we've dug up lots of bones (but never had them identified, they could have just been animal bones, but a big animal, there were long bones similar to a femur)

scroogemcduck · 09/02/2012 12:55

I've lived on top of a graveyard, did not bother me, and I don't think anyone will be digging things up as bodies are buried very deeply. If it does not bother you that's fine. Graveyards are places of peace, the way I see it. I liked our house there. Now we live on top of an abbatoir Hmm. We are all vegetarians Smile

Rhubarbgarden · 09/02/2012 12:57

Wouldn't bother me. But I do have a friend who would never come to stay again Grin.

GetOrfMoiiLand · 09/02/2012 13:00

WOW at living on the remains of a Roman sarcophagus.

I wouldn't mind living on top of a graveyard. My house is right next door to one. It's very peaceful. Grin

Sposh · 09/02/2012 13:01

Look out for piles of chairs in the kitchen.

I wouldn't worry too much, Quakers on the whole are lovely gentle people I doubt they turn into screaming people scaring ghosts.

Original poster
hanahsaunt · 09/02/2012 13:19

The house was built in 1910 and I doubt the bones would have been dug up and reinterred because the Quakers were non-conformist hence the need to buried on a site other than consecrated ground; I think they were still quite strict about that sort of thing in 1910. I just like knowing the history of the land and being connected with the story of the house.

OP posts:
scurryfunge · 09/02/2012 13:20

Would the ground be liable to subside?

Original poster
hanahsaunt · 09/02/2012 13:50

Good question. According to one of the objectors (current owners spend a couple of years trying to have the house demolished and replaced with 4 new builds) the house had been recently underpinned ... another thing to have the surveyor look for.

OP posts:
ElsieMc · 09/02/2012 18:13

I live right next to a graveyard and it doesn't bother me one bit. Only the living can hurt you and our neighbours in the courtyard are a damn sight more horrible!

Joking aside, lots of people love our house, they find the grounds tranquil and beautiful. It was in a terrible state when we moved in, covered in brambles etc and one of the gardeners who helped us told us that although its by the sea, it's very unusual to be able to grow so many species of fruit etc which ripens early. Maybe something to do with all the bodies.....

Lightofthemoon · 09/02/2012 18:53

I viewed a flat once and the agent asked if I minded it being above commercial premises, I said no thinking of a shop of some sort. When we arrived they were wheeling a coffin out of the undertakers it was above!!

I said no way, there is a bit of a difference between a shop and a place full of dead bodies! I told the EA they should be upfront with people, you are either ok with living above an undertakers or you're not.

Would feel a bit weird about the graveyard but probably wouldn't bother me as much!

MyLittleMiracle · 09/02/2012 19:11

I wouldnt mind living on a burial site....to be honest i would be more than happy with a front door to call my own! People who have been buried with respect i believe rest in peace. And lets face it (sorry people) there are so many people that go missing every year and are never found, that they must be buried somewhere, possibly in the foundations to properties etc, so being in a graveyard wouldnt bother me, those people are at rest, those who havent been buried are not. x

CalatalieSisters · 09/02/2012 19:15

Ack, they are Quakers so they will probably stay very quiet.

If they do stir, it will only be to treat you with cherishing kindness, and perhaps very politely ask you to supprt gay marriage or sign a petition against the war in Afghanistan.

mycatsaysach · 09/02/2012 19:15

we have one directly behind our house - bout 5 mins walk away it is really lovely and peaceful

minipie · 10/02/2012 10:36

I think I'd be fine about it. Any of our houses could have been built on old burial sites for all we know. You just happen to know.

New posts on this thread. Refresh page
Swipe left for the next trending thread