The horse-drawn carriage is making a funerary return

Instead of horsepower they are horse-drawn with funeral directors in County Down noting an increase in demand for the old-style carriages.

Mary Gore, 67, often told her children that when she was a child all funerals were in horse-drawn hearses.

When she passed on, her family thought the last thing they could ever do for her was an old-fashioned send-off.

Her son William said it had helped the family.

"On the actual day of the funeral, we knew it was going to be a hard enough day to get through, we brought my mother out and saw the glass carriages and the horses," he said.

"The lift that give us it really did help us get through the day."

The hearses are not antiques, designed in England and built in Poland, George Fawcett of Saintfield imported a new one.

A little oil helps the look of the hooves

He has been running the service for 10 years but he said in the last year bookings have shot up.

"People see it and they think it looks smart and they say to their family 'I'd like that when my time comes' and the family keep that in mind and book it when the time does come," he said.

He uses black Dutch Friesian horses to pull the hearse, for their calm nature.

A little used engine oil helps their hooves look the part, with ostrich feathers being used for the blackened plumes.

Undertaker David Rice said people were specifically asking for the horse-drawn option.

"Whenever people select the horse-drawn hearse they have a definite requirement in their mind for these vehicles," he said.

"They are expensive, and the expense does come into the equation when the people are selecting a horse-drawn hearse for their funeral."