J. Worley (Funeral Directors) Ltd.

We take great pride in our fleet of funeral vehicles. Our primary fleet consists of a Daimler hearse and Daimler limousines. In addition to this we also have a classic Austin Princess hearse and are able to supply a horse-drawn hearse. For burials and scattering of cremated remains at sea, we can provide use of a motor launch. Other vehicles are available by special request. If there is something specific you would like, please ask us and we will endeavour to supply it.

All of our drivers are carefully selected and trained for cortege driving to ensure your comfort and safety whilst in our vehicles.

Daimler Hearse
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Daimler Limousines

Our Daimler cars are purpose-built for funeral work. They combine the highest levels of style, elegance, comfort and practicality and we think that you will agree that they carry out their task with a level of dignity and discretion not often found in modern vehicles.

Austin Princess Hearse
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Our Austin Princess hearse was originally built in 1966 making it a true classic in every sense of the word. It's clean lines and bright chrome work mean that it has never gone out of style, and is still as elegant today as it was nearly forty years ago when it was new.

Horse-Drawn Hearse

During the mid 1980s, the popularity of, and interest in, horse drawn funerals was revived and has brought with it an interest in the history of funerals before the advent of the motor car.

The traditional funeral horse is of Friesian breed, more commonly known as the "Belgian Black". When the horses were first imported to Britain there was no port in the Netherlands, their home country, and so they were transported overland to Belgium, exported on barges from Antwerp. They were then taken up the Thames to the Elephant and the Castle where they were sold in market every Thursday.

The horses do wear plumes, which were predominant in the Victorian era, but were banned in 1914 by pressure put upon the Undertakers' Association, as when wet, the weight of the head-dress caused the head to droop. Today, we use dyed black ostrich feathers to adorn the heads of our funeral horses as a token of this past tradition.

The horses, Duchess, Prince, Lord, Duke, Thomas and Marquis live at Stables in Essex and are transported to us when required.

Over the past few years, the horses have been First class winners at the Royal Windsor Horse Show, and held the first prize two years running at the National Driving Championships plus they are the holders of numerous red ribbons from County Shows. These prizes give an indication of the dedication and professionalism behind the quality of care undertaken at the stables.

We are sure that the survival of the Friesian and the Victorian hearse is guaranteed as we have shown they can exist extremely well side by side with the more modern motor driven hearse in today's more environmentally friendly age.

First Call Ambulance

For first call movement of the deceased we use a discreet ambulance.