The Coffin in the Attic: The Incredible Story of Henry Trigg and His Adventures After Death
Englishman Henry Trigg lived in the 18th century, but his name is still known thanks to an unusual burial. His life was marred by a phobia that seems strange now, but was quite reasonable at the time. Trigg was afraid that after death his body would be given to doctors or medical students for anatomical research, which was a common practice at the time. To avoid this fate, Trigg devised a plan that has raised eyebrows for centuries.
Since ancient times, human bodies have been considered valuable "commodities." The dead were used in rituals by magicians and sorcerers, pharmacists turned them into a source of medicine, and doctors used them as a tool for studying anatomy. Until the end of the Middle Ages, there was no shortage of corpses, as executions were regularly carried out throughout Europe. After executions, bodies or parts of them were often handed over to doctors and scientists for research.
By the 18th century, executions had become rare and the dead were treated with more respect. This created problems for doctors and anatomists who needed bodies for research. To solve this problem, they resorted to opening graves and stealing the dead. In response, they began to invent ways to protect burials: from simple metal grates to complex mechanisms that could shoot a vandal with a flintlock pistol.
The fear of ending up on an anatomical table after death was widespread among Europeans, despite all precautions. Many sought original ways to protect their bodies. Grocer Henry Trigg from the small town of Stevenage in Hertfordshire, England, had a vivid experience that reinforced his fears. One evening, while returning from a pub with friends, he witnessed a body being stolen from a churchyard.
What he saw shocked Henry Trigg so much that it became his nightmare. He thought long and hard about how to protect his remains and came up with an unusual solution. Trigg bequeathed that the coffin with his body be placed on the lath under the rafters of his barn. He forbade access to the outbuilding, wishing to install a lock on the doors that could be closed from the outside and opened only from the inside.
In his will, Henry Trigg also specified that his body should remain under the roof of the barn for at least 30 years. He was convinced that during this time the Last Judgement would come and he himself would rise from the grave to leave the barn for eternal life. Ah, if he had known how his invention would turn out, he would have definitely preferred to rest in the churchyard.
In 1724, Henry Trigg passed away, and his heirs carried out his wishes exactly. The grocer had no wife or children, so he left all his property to his brother, Thomas Trigg, a local priest. To ensure that his unusual wishes were carried out, Henry specified in his will that his brother would lose his rights to the inheritance if he did not take the matter seriously.
Henry Trigg had foreseen everything: if Thomas violated his will, the inheritance was to go to another brother, George Trigg. In the event of George's carelessness, the rights to the property would go to his nephew William Trigg, and so on down the list. However, Henry's fears were in vain. Thomas, as a man of clergy, strictly followed all the instructions set out in his brother's notarized will.
For Henry Trigg's funeral, an oak coffin lined with lead sheets was made. After the funeral service, it was lifted onto the sheathing under the rafters of the barn, placed at a height of about three meters. The barn was locked, and no one entered it for 30 years. Residents of Stevenage knew about the unusual burial, and the barn with the coffin became a kind of landmark of the tiny town.
As expected, neither 30 nor 50 years later, Henry Trigg was resurrected. In 1774, his descendants sold the house and barn, and the new owners converted them into an inn called the Old Castle Inn. Anne Trigg, Henry's great-niece, asked to move the coffin for burial in the cemetery. However, the new owners of the property refused.
The barn with the coffin became a popular local attraction, attracting customers to the pub. Stevenage visitors preferred the Old Castle Inn, where they could look at Henry Trigg's coffin between drinks. As the years passed, the grocer's body remained in the rafters. The barn survived several fires, but each time Henry's remains were saved and the building was restored.
In the early 19th century, the coffin began to fall apart from old age, and it was decided to replace it. The carpenter who was making the new coffin and moving the remains took a lock of hair and a tooth from the deceased as a souvenir. The remains of the unfortunate Trigg were disturbed later as well. In 1831, the next owner of the inn, Mr. Bellamy, decided to personally inspect the coffin. He noted that the deceased's hair was remarkably well preserved, despite the years that had passed.
In 1906, the body of Henry Trigg was examined by the British Archaeological Society. The experts came to a disappointing conclusion: a third of the skeleton was missing, and the remaining bones were in a deplorable state. During the First World War, English soldiers were housed in the tavern. They opened Trigg's coffin and, for unknown reasons, replaced some of his bones with horse bones. In short, something happened that the deceased hardly wanted in life.
In 1999, the inn and its associated barn were bought by the National Westminster Bank. Surprisingly, the coffin was still standing on the sheathing under the roof. During the renovation of the barn, it was temporarily handed over to a local undertaker for safekeeping. The further fate of Trigg's remains is shrouded in mystery. There are two versions of how the story of the unusual burial ended.
According to one version, the undertaker opened the coffin and found it empty. According to another, it contained a jumble of human bones, animal bones, and rubbish. What happened to the remains of Henry Trigg himself remains a mystery. The Old Castle Inn is still in operation today, and the barn stands nearby. On its latticework, a coffin has been lying for three centuries, now completely empty.
Old Stevenage residents claim that Henry Trigg's spirit is extremely disappointed with the way his remains were treated. The grocer's ghost has allegedly been seen near the barn on foggy nights. But it is unlikely to be encountered now - the last time the ghost was seen was in 1964, when it walked through the brick wall of the barn and was never seen again.
Human remains often become unusual attractions of drinking establishments. Just look at the human finger from a tavern in the Canadian city of Dawson, which became a component of a cocktail.
Henry Trigg's story is a reminder of how far people will go to defend their beliefs. What do you think of this strange burial method? Is it possible that someone would do something like this in our time? Share your thoughts in the comments!