a brief history of shrouds and show us her Luddenden Shroud and cradle crafted from natural found materials. There will be some film and stills of some of the shrouds available in the UK. Also suggestions of how you can make your own. We’ll have examples of shrouds, shroud trays and cradles including some from Woven Farewell and Respect Everybody Shrouds. We’ll also have a demonstration of shrouding. As it’s the Autumn Equinox please bring something natural such as a leaf, seed, twig or fruit so that you can be involved in the shrouding.
Shrouds serve both utilitarian and symbolic functions, promoting dignity for the person that has died, sometimes reflecting cultural and religious traditions and/or facilitating a connection to nature and the Earth in eco-friendly burials.
A shroud can be simple as a large piece of cotton fabric or bed sheet or it can be
a more complex structured cotton vessel with ties. There are no rules and it is difficult to get shrouding wrong!
A shroud can be wrapped around a person and then they are place in a coffin. Or they can be used with a specially made board, tray or cradle. We’ll be showing you some examples.
Shrouds used to just be used for burial but now they can also be used for cremation. We’re expecting the use of shrouds to increase due to the new funerary methods that are likely to become available in the UK soon, humans composting and resomation. These techniques need shrouds rather than coffins. Also we are finding more families interested in joining us in shrouding their special person as a symbolic and meaningful act.
This is an in-person event at Natural Endings, Former Mail Sorting Office, Rise Lane, Todmorden, OL14 7AA.
