Dead house

{{Short description|Structure for the storage of a corpse before burial or transportation}}

{{about|the structure|the 2015 novel|The Dead House}}

File:Alla helgons dag Garpenberg 2015, bisättningshuset 01.jpg church (Church of Sweden)]]

File:Alla helgons dag Garpenberg 2015, bisättningshuset 03.jpg in the dead house next to Garpenberg church.]]

A dead house, deadhouse or mort house, is a structure used for the temporary storage of a human corpse before burial or transportation, usually located within or near a cemetery. Such edifices were more common before the mid-20th century in areas with cold winter climates, before which time grave excavation during the winter was either difficult or impossible.

Dead houses were common to some religious groups, such as the Moravian Church (Unitas Fratrum).Jarvis, Dale. [https://www.academia.edu/4173523/The_Moravian_Dead_Houses_of_Labrador_Canada The Moravian Dead Houses of Labrador], Canada in "Communal Societies" 21 (2001): 61-77. The "Corpse House" still exists in the Moravian Settlement of Lititz, Pennsylvania; those in Nazareth, Bethlehem and Winston-Salem, North Carolina no longer exist. Other corpse houses exist in Moravian Congregations in Europe, in Herrnhut, Koenigsfeld, Neuwied, Zeist, Kleinwelka and Niesky. These Corpse Houses remain in use for the keeping of members' bodies until the time for burial. Like the seating in the sanctuary and the burial fields in the God's Acre, they are segregated by gender, i.e. "Brethren's Side" and "Sisters' Side". Religious and medical concerns about accurate diagnosis of death were also reasons that all burials were delayed for at least three days for Moravians, not solely cold conditions.