Paper mache coffin for Centenarian

Alice Chinn, who had reached the grand old age of 101, lived with son Martin at their home in Grove Court up until her recent death.

Born in North London, Alice moved to Bexhill with Martin and husband Reginald when he retired in 1973.

Reginald passed away in 1981 and Martin attributed Alice's long life to genetics.

He said: "She lived a very ordinary life. All the family are long-lived so it must be genetics."

When it came to her funeral Martin said it had been his Mum's request that there was, "no fuss".

Alice had left her body to medical science but due to her having been subjected to an autopsy this wasn't possible. This left Martin with something of a dilemma, and a strange coincidence then lead to his discovery of local resident Dennis Marshall's unique paper mach coffins.

Martin said: "It was Mums wish that she didn't want a lot of fuss or a religious service at her funeral. She had left her body to the Charring Cross Medical School of Anatomy, but they didn't want to take her because they won't take bodies that have been subject to an autopsy.

So I contacted the Natural Death Centre for advice and was surprised when they said I was the second person from Bexhill to call them that day. They said they'd had a call from Dennis and proceeded to tell me about his work; I thought it sounded interesting and five minutes later I was talking to him."

He added: "It strikes me that it's ecologically sounder, rather than to use a wooden coffin, to use paper mach. Energy costs for using wood are considerable, and after all what is paper but wood and what do we do with waste paper otherwise?"

The man who has come up with the novel idea for a paper mach eco-friendly coffin, and who has designed and made a special woven coffin for Alice, is Bexhillian Dennis Marshall. His coffins will not only be kinder to the environment but kinder to the purse strings as well.

Dennis, a specialist in designing spectacular paper mach and lacquered creations, came up with the idea to make the coffin about a year ago, after reading about the, 'London Green Funeral Exhibition' - which was hosted by the Natural Death Centre.

The main topic of the exhibition was how funerals could be, 'made more green', and Dennis subsequently came up with his unique idea for a paper mach coffin; which is kinder to the environment whether used for a burial or cremation.

He said: "My coffin uses no energy whatsoever; it's completely C02 friendly, 100% bio-degradable and is made only with with water based products."

The coffin is made using water based glue, black water based blackboard paint, and finished with a coating of acrylic varnish.

Dennis said he adds a couple of, 'secret' ingredients to the making of the coffin, but until such time as he gets his design patented he's not revealing what they are.

In addition, Dennis said when it comes to cremations, the coffin burns quickly and therefore releases less harmful fumes into the atmosphere.

He said: "My idea is for an energy saving coffin, it only takes ten minutes to burn and use less C02."

Funerals which include a wooden coffin can be an expensive business, but Dennis said he makes his paper mach coffin at a fraction of the price of a wooden one - or even it's nearest eco-friendly competitor '“ costing an incredible 150.

Dennis said: "The cheapest eco-friendly coffin that is available at the moment is called an, 'eco pod' and they cost 699 for a basic one, or 1,099 for those that are embossed with gold leaf. The energy costs of using wood are considerable, not only to the atmosphere but for the amount of trees that have to be used."

Dennis makes the coffins in his back garden and it takes him, along with two friends, three days to make one coffin.

Even selling the coffins at 150 Dennis said he can still make a profit, some of which he plans to donate to the ICU at the Conquest hospital, and Bexhill's 73a Centre, in order to help the service users there to continue with their arts and crafts days, which Dennis regularly attends in order to offer his expertise and inspiration.

In addition, for those who like to plan ahead, Dennis has also designed and made a flat-pack version of the coffin which is slightly more expensive at 200, and he's already made his first sale to another Bexhill resident, Phylis Butterworth, who is very much alive.

He said: "Phylis has bought the first flat pack coffin and is storing it in her attic."

He added: "I know it sounds strange but the flat pack coffin is self-assembly! It costs a little bit more because I put more components in and it's more labour intensive."

Dennis is planning to have a web-site up and running in the not too distant future but in the meantime for more information he can be reached vis email at: [email protected]