Is it an Arched trench or a very smelly wet church. Blame the Aussies

[barkingdigger]

No - mine were in domestic settings - obviously. As for the other reasons for choosing a location for a church, who'da thunk? But in truth, good drainage and capacity were probably much lower on the list than say availability of donated land, so there are some churches on dry high ground, and others standing in puddles of rising damp. And some don't even have room for a graveyard! (And in the pre-modern period Church officials were far less prissy about preserving the integrity of burials, often slapping foundations for new aisles through the graves...)

But the basic issue remains that EH does not actively encourage ignorance of heritage or structural safety - only that these Trench-Arch thingies MIGHT be a viable lower-impact alternative to the full-on sewer connection. Only a moron would approve one in close proximity to the foundations, or on top of ancient burials! But then, not all churches were ENTIRELY cut off by crowded burials on all sides, coming right up to the walls, so there is often room for a short pipe-run to a nearby bit of uninteresting ground. Common sense is still a general requirement, and the various powers that be should be looking at all proposals with a critical eye.

Have you had to dig up the after-effects of one of these modern demon cesspits? You certainly seem passionate about the issue!