Four Wheeled Funeral Bier

This four-wheeled funeral bier was built by an unknown maker at an unknown date. It is designed to carry and often to display a body/coffin for funeral practices.

The bier has a two-metre-long wooden table for lying the body/coffin on top of and includes a leather belt to help strap them down and secure them for movement. On either side of the table are a pair of lengthwise handrails as well as a pair of metal handlebars. At one end of the table is a roller to assist loading and unloading the body/coffin, and on the other end are metal handlebars used to manoeuvre and push the bier.

The undercarriage includes an elliptical spring for each of the four metal spoked wheels.

Behind the handlebars is a commemorative plaque, the inscription reading: “Presented by James Scribbins, of Doynton Mill, July 22.1935 for the free use of the parishioners of Doynton in memory of his dear wife Hannah Maria.”

Funeral biers are a form of hand-drawn stand used to display and carry a body or coffin as part of a funeral or wake and are often used when a body is laid in state. This funeral bier has four wheels and is designed to be pushed around on its wheels, but other designs of biers stand on legs and are designed to be lifted and carried. Other common features of biers are leather straps to secure the body or coffin they are carrying, and in the case of wheeled biers, elliptical springs to help keep the carriage stable.

The use of biers in funerary practices dates to the ancient Egyptians, but has become a common feature in Christian traditions, with biers being positioned in the centre of a church for mourners to view.

The designs of Funeral Biers can range from simple to ornate, often reflecting the diverse changing funeral practices across social classes over time.

This four-wheeled funeral bier has a simple modern design and was originally a donation to the small town of Doynton, South Gloucestershire in 1935, as described in its commemorated plaque: “Presented by James Scribbins, of Doynton Mill, July 22.1935 for the free use of the parishioners of Doynton in memory of his dear wife Hannah Maria.”. This bier has been kept and used by the Holy Trinity Church in Doynton until 2000.