Until the late 1800s the City’s graveyards were vastly overcrowded (with corpses, not mourners).

This was partly because cremation was not yet legal.

The Church objected to cremation because it had pagan connections and also because they believed that resurrection would not be possible unless the body was complete.

The Cremation Society was formed in 1874 and, after much lobbying, cremation became legal in 1884 The first crematorium was at Woking in Surrey.