DAMP and dingy catacombs beneath York Cemetery are to be transformed into one of the city's more unusual attractions.

CAVE MAN: Cemetery warden Bill Shaw in the catacombs under York cemetery - inset left is the more normal view of the cemetery above ground

Plans are in hand for the vaults to become a museum about the history of burial and an education centre for schools.

The vaulted cellar was built for hundreds of wealthy York Victorians who could afford the lavish interment, but only 18 people ever took the option up.

So now trustees have decided to make use of the underground space in the cemetery, which is already a popular field study venue above ground.

Long-serving warden Bill Shaw explained: "At the moment the catacombs are just a store, so work is in progress making them dry. Once we get electricity down there we will be able to put displays and computers down there.

"It is likely that we will make a museum display on Victorian attitudes towards death.

We have 14 vaulted arches down here but only two have been used for burials. With these we will remove the seal slates, bearing the names of the deceased, and brick the tombs up before replacing the slate more securely.

"Our cemetery has been hugely beneficial for educational use, with children learning about ecology from the wildlife we have here, about history from the graves and about social issues from the way people were buried and attitudes to death in the past."

York Cemetery Trustee Hugh Murray added: "We have spent a lot of money restoring the chapel, after its roof collapsed in 1987, now we want to do that with the catacombs.

"Underneath the chapel people were deposited. They were put in a coffin and slid into a vault before being sealed up by a slate slab.

"There are 18 bodies down there but there is space for hundreds. It was a very expensive way of burying yourself, almost double the cost of normal interment.

"It was open from 1837 and the last body went in there in 1881. There are 14 arches in the cellar which is very much like a wine cellar.

"We have an education officer and now all we need is a space to welcome people whatever the weather."

York Tourism Bureau's chief executive, Gillian Cruddas, said: "It's certainly another dimension to York's tourism product. It's nothing like the traditional direction but there is an interest and even a fascination with this sort of thing. Just look at the success of the York Dungeon. We look forward to seeing how we can include it in the promotion of the city."

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