Conservation of Cremulator

The cremulator was an essential piece of equipment used at Arnos Vale Cemetery during the mid-20th century and illustrates a key stage in the process of cremation and disposal of human remains.  It would have been used to crush any bone remains removed from furnaces after cremation into a powdered form for scattering or interment in graves.

The creation of a crematorium and gardens of rest at Arnos Vale from 1929 was highly significant to the development of local funerary practise - it was the first crematorium in the south west and outside of London.  In its mid-20th century hey-day, Arnos Vale held up to 30 cremations a day.  While crematoriums continue to use similar equipment now, to our knowledge this is the only such item that represents the process in a museum collection in the UK.

Thanks to the AIM Conservation Scheme grant, the cremulator has been successfully conserved and returned to Arnos Vale.  It is now on public display for the first time, close to its original working location in the crematorium basement of the Non Conformist Chapel.  This newly-renovated building houses the Spielman Centre - an education service and exhibition space, with visitor facilities and artefacts including a 1920' cremation furnace and catafalque coffin lift.

The cremulator is one of the "star" features of the new exhibition exploring the working life of the cemetery, providing visitors with a unique insight into an unrepresented element of contemporary society - the disposal of human remains.

Arnos Vale Cemetery Trust volunteers have recently uncovered some further evidence for the cremulator's historic significance to the site.  We now know that it was made in 1957 by Christy and Norris Ltd, a manufacturing firm established a century before (1858) and still in business today as Christy-Turner Limited.  This firm specialised in making industrial machinery, such as pulverisers and hammer mills, and don't appear to have made anything similar to the cremulator, before or since, making this machine unique.  The original two pages of instructions for use have also been discovered in the Trust archives, confirming its importance to the cemetery.

Picture:  Bob Pitchford