Honiton was mentioned in newspapers throughout the United Kingdom in 1927. The headlines were dire, and the matter was even raised in the House of Commons.

Maragaret Lewis, curator of Honiton Museum writes for the Herald.

The Honiton Board of Guardians of the Poor Law Institution achieved notoriety when a protest was made during one of their Saturday meetings. It was stated that people who had died at the Workhouse in Marlpits Lane were placed in unlined coffins and covered in sawdust to hide their nakedness and to prevent their bones rattling.

The Clerk explained that the Tenders Committee had recommended the acceptance of tenders for pauper coffins for the town and each parish in the Honiton Union. The prices of coffins depended on the dimensions only. The price for rural parishes was forty shillings and sixty shillings. For Honiton, the cost was twenty five shillings and fifty shillings. For the Workhouse, thirty two shillings six pence, fifty shillings and sixty shillings. The coffins were always made of elm measuring ¾ of an inch thick. There was no reference in the tender for lining of the sides of a coffin, a pillow, or a sheet to cover the body.

For several years tenders for paupers' coffins were accepted from local contracting firms. The amazing thing is that the Guardians whose special duty it was to see that public money was spent wisely, did not take the trouble to find out what they were actually paying for. It was stated that the cost of a coffin for a stillborn child was two shillings and sixpence, which was barely the cost of a box from a grocer.

The Guardians were completely unaware of this practice taking place and were shocked and horrified. The Chairman suggested that they could ask the tenderers if they would do what was required for an additional ten shillings and if they refused the Guardians must advertise the tender again. Mayor Juanita Phillips said that the disclosure was 'perfectly horrible' and there would be no repetition of the procedure.

An extra paragraph was then added to the tender specifications for the supply of parish coffins:- "The bottom of the coffin should have two inches of sawdust covered with white Domette (a cotton fabric), the sides covered with the same and furnished the top edge with a frilling two inches wide, the interior be filled with sawdust only when necessary for the additional sum of seven shillings six pence, eight shillings six pence, and ten shillings respectively, including three pillows.”