The Coffins That Kept Moving

The Waldicotts were a rich family of planters, who had lived for most of their lives in Jamaica. They had decided a long time ago that when they died, they would all stay together in the rock-hewn tomb that had been built specifically for that purpose.

The tomb was sealed with a massive marble door, which made it to be more like a fortress than a tomb.

Masina Waldicott, the grandmother of the family was the first to occupy the tomb, with a basic ceremony, attended by a few of the local people.

Masina’s coffin was made of plain wood, as per her request, she lived her life with no frills and that was how she would die.

Four years later, the daughters of the family, Mellisa and Davina were killed in a freak car accident, which occurred on a quiet road, only a few miles from their home, they had been seeing friends that evening and were returning home, when their car skidded off the road into a ravine.

Both the daughters were placed in lead coffins and it took eight men for each coffin, to be able to carry them into the family tomb, which had just been opened up, only minutes before the coffins arrived.

Only close friends and family attended what was a very basic ceremony, this had been both daughters wish, as too had been the request by them to be placed in lead coffins.

The tomb was then again sealed and everyone went about their lives, as they normally had for countless numbers of years.

When The Tomb Was Opened

When finally, Issac, the father of the family, one day just gave a sigh and fell asleep in his old chair, never to wake again, Benjamin, the son, who was the last remaining member of the family, made all of the necessary arrangements.

Issac had a considerable amount of friends and they all gathered at the tomb waiting for it to be opened. When the tomb was opened, the many people who were there were astonished to see that the lead coffins of the daughters had been moved, they were both leaning against the wall, standing upright, with the lids facing the wall.

There were no apparent signs of the tomb having been broken into and the seal on the massive marble tomb door was still intact, when it had been opened in preparation for Issac’s coffin to be placed inside.

The daughter’s coffins were again put in an orderly fashion and the big marble tomb door was sealed with a strong resin that would make sure there were no further intrusions to the tomb.

And that’s the way it stayed over the coming years, occasionally one person or another, not being able to contain their curiosity, would look to see if the tomb door was still sealed and on each occasion they would confirm that it was undisturbed.

The Last Family Member Dies

When Benjamin, the last member of the Waldicott family died, the people of the town followed the explicit instructions that he had asked them to perform; he was contained in a strong wooden casket that was then put inside a larger lead coffin.

Needless to say, this coffin took many men to carry it, but there was no shortage of volunteers, because the whole town had turned out, nobody was going to miss the opening of the tombs massive marble door.

Workmen used tools to break away the solid resin seal, which had kept the tomb door tightly closed, over the years, since old Issac Waldicott’s coffin had been placed inside.

As the massive marble door was slowly prised open, a strange coldness filled the air; it could be observed that the crowd that was gathered there were showing signs of extreme nervousness.

Inside the tomb, the scene that awaited them would send shivers down their backs. The lead coffins of the Waldicott daughters were seen to be again in total disarray, still sealed, but standing upright either side of the little wooden coffin of Masina Waldicott, their grandmother.

100 years after this occurrence, the Waldicott tomb was emptied of its coffins, which were buried in the local cemetery, where to this day they have remained without any known movement.

And the tomb, it also remains empty, to this day, except for the litter and leaves, blown in by the wind through the gaps in the bars of the door.