Talk: Rachel Hawthorn is a death doula, artist and shroud maker. She will give
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.
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.
Parking: We have very limited car parking spaces on site, which will be reserved for those with limited mobility. In the evening you can park your car for free on Rise Lane, or otherwise you can pay a small hourly fee for the car parking spaces on Station Approach. They’re are also other parking facilities in town.
By train: Natural Endings is located right below Todmorden train station, and lies on the Leeds – Manchester route.
