Udny Mort House

About

Udny Mort House is a morthouse in the old kirkyard at Udny Green, Aberdeenshire, in the north-east of Scotland. Built in 1832, it is today a Category B listed building. It housed corpses until decomposition had progressed sufficiently that their graves would not be desecrated by resurrectionists and body-snatchers seeking to sell cadavers to medical colleges for dissection.

Bodies were permitted to be stored for up to three months before burial. The circular morthouse was designed with a revolving platform and double doors. After the passage of the Anatomy Act 1832 Udny Mort House gradually fell into disuse; minutes of the committee responsible for its operation cease in about July 1836.