Receiving vault

In such areas, the receiving vault was used to temporarily store bodies until warmer weather permitted digging.

[1] Receiving vaults were also used as a temporary burial site while an elaborate mausoleum or under ground crypt was being constructed to house the remains.

[3] Disease-bearing corpses were also often stored in the receiving vault until such time as authorities believed it was safe to handle them.

Where the ground was level, the receiving vault was dug into the earth, and a mound heaped over it to mimic a hill.

The interiors were simple, and often plain, with heavy lockable doors to prevent entry by grave robbers or body snatchers.