Coffin Template                                                 

This template was found in Brookwood Cemetery in the 1990s and later donated to The Lightbox by members of the Brookwood Cemetery Society. The plane, at the top, was independently found in the same area and was attached simply for safe-keeping.

In Woking there was a coffin making workshop in Robin Hood Road, Knaphill with a local blacksmith making the fittings. The Newman Brothers Coffin Fittings works in Birmingham was founded in the late 19^th century; they made handles, breast-plates, crucifixes, shrouds and robes.

(Dr Julian Litten, formerly of the V&A.)

To find out more, visit Woking’s Story.

Image credit: Coffin Template © The Lightbox