During the 18th century, the supply of cadavers for medical students to study was fulfilled by grave robbers, or "resurrectionists." No one wanted their bodies to undergo such a fate, but Henry Trigg of the village of Stevenage, Hertfordshire, England, came up with a plan to protect his earthly remains from plunder. He arranged with his brother that his coffin should be buried not underground, but up in the rafters of his barn. The barn was to be locked, and the key placed in the coffin, so that only Trigg himself could unlock it when he returned from the dead, supposedly in thirty years. As you might have guessed already, the key business could not physically be accomplished, but in 1724 when Trigg died, his coffin was indeed installed in the roof area of the barn.
But while this may have protected Trigg's body from immediate theft, his resting place became a curiosity, then eventually when the barn became an inn, the coffin above the rafters became a tourist draw. Fifty years after his death, Trigg's niece requested a burial, but was denied. Over time, parts of Trigg's remains began to disappear. Read about the restless corpse of Henry Trigg, despite his complicated burial plans, at Amusing Planet.
(Image credit: AnemoneProjectors)
