deceased are cremated in a coffin supplied by the undertaker and any reusable or cardboard coffins cannot be used. If cost is an issue, a plain, particle-board coffin, known as a “chippie,” will be offered. Handles, if fitted, are plastic and approved for use in a cremator. Coffins vary from unfinished particle board to solid timber, though most are veneered particle board.
Cremations can be “delivery only,” with no preceding chapel service at the crematorium, or preceded by a service in one of the crematorium chapels. Delivery-only allows crematoriums to schedule cremations to make best use of the cremators.
Jewelry, such as wristwatches and rings, is ordinarily removed and returned to the family. The only non-natural item required to be removed from the body is a pacemaker, as a pacemaker could explode and damage the cremator. In the United Kingdom, the undertaker is required to remove pacemakers prior to delivering the body to the crematorium, and sign a declaration stating that any pacemaker has been removed.
An alternative method used in some cultures, such as Hinduism, is burning the corpse on a pyre. A pyre is a pile of wood upon, or within, which the deceased body is placed. The mound is lit on fire; the fire consumes the wood and the deceased. This method is not commonly found in the western world, where crematorium furnaces are used, and is often forbidden by law. But is never the less the beginning of the history of cremation. Read more about our Funeral Cremation Services.