Weedon Chapel Graveyard Schedule of Fees 2023/2024

Click here for pdf of Weedon Chapel Graveyard Schedule of Fees

EXCLUSIVE RIGHT OF BURIAL (EROB) until 6th May 2114

May be purchased in advance, or at time of burial

Grave Plot –  Single depth (1 burial)         £300

Grave Plot – Double depth (2 burials)      £300

Ashes Plot –  Single depth (1 ashes)         £120

Ashes Plot – Double depth (2 ashes)        £120

Child’s Grave or Ashes Plot (under 18 years)           nil

               

INTERMENT/BURIAL of COFFIN

Does NOT include grave digging, undertaker charges, person officiating or chapel service

Burial     £180

Burial of a child under 18              nil

Burial of a stillborn child                nil

               

INTERMENT/BURIAL of ASHES

Does NOT include grave digging, undertaker charges, person officiating or chapel service

Interment of ashes          £120

Interment of ashes of a child under 18    nil

               

MEMORIALS, HEADSTONES AND TABLETS

Right to erect Grave Headstone not exceeding 1 metre in height    £120

Right to place Ashes Plot Tablet    £120

Right to place Flower Vase (in lieu of headstone or tablet)             £120

Right to place Memorial Tablet (no remains interred)      £120

Right to add Inscription to an existing Headstone or Tablet      £60

 

ADMINISTRATION

Search of Burial Register               £30

 

All fees are exempt from VAT

PRICES VALID 1ST APRIL 2023 to 31st March 2024

For further information, and for details of whom to contact to arrange a funeral service in the Methodist Chapel, please call the Parish Clerk on 01280 814739 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

 


Weedon Chapel Graveyard Regulations

Click here for pdf of Weedon Chapel Graveyard Regulations reviewed and confirmed November 2022.

Note – These Regulations are in addition to the provision of the Local Authorities Cemeteries Order 1977 and any other appropriate regulations currently in force.

1.            General

1.1          The Weedon Chapel Graveyard is managed and maintained by Weedon Parish Council (the "Council") , which holds a 99-year lease (to 2114) from the Methodist Church. All enquiries should be made to the Clerk to the Parish Council (the "Clerk") , who is the officer responsible for the administration of the Graveyard.

1.2          The fees for burial are set by and payable to Weedon Parish Council.  Payments are to be sent to the Clerk in advance of an interment or memorial works.

1.3          The deceased must normally have been a resident of the Parish at the time of death as determined by the electoral roll, or the child of such resident provided the child is less than 18 years of age. Residents of the Parish who may have left to go into care because of infirmity are considered residents at time of death.

1.4          The Council reserves the right to amend these regulations and to deal with any circumstances not provided for in the regulations as necessary.

1.5          All personal data collected by the Council in connection with the Chapel Graveyard, including the information collected on Notice of Interment and Memorial or Burial Plot Application forms, will be dealt with in accordance with the Council's Privacy Policy and Notice, or by contacting the Clerk.

 

2.            Conditions of Admission to the Chapel Graveyard

2.1          The Chapel Graveyard is a place of peace and quiet reflection. Visitors must not stand, sit or lean on any memorial or otherwise act in such a way as to cause damage to Chapel Graveyard facilities or property, or offence to Chapel Graveyard visitors, or to create any disturbance or cause a nuisance in the Chapel Graveyard.

2.2          Dogs must be kept on a lead at all times and dog owners are to ensure that their pets do not foul the graves or ashes plots. Dog owners are to remove any dog faeces immediately and after securing this in a plastic bag, are to deposit it in the dog bin at the entrance to the Park opposite.

2.3          No motorcycles, bicycles, skateboards or scooters are allowed in the Chapel Graveyard.

2.4          The whole of the grounds in the Chapel Graveyard, together with all growing trees and shrubs, as well as the surface of all graves and ashes plots, including all plants and flowers growing or placed on them, are under the custody and control of the Clerk or other authorised officer.

 

3.            Purchasing the rights to a burial or ashes plot

3.1          All requests to purchase the right to a burial or ashes plot should be directed to the Clerk.

3.2          The exclusive right of burial (EROB) in a plot in the Chapel Graveyard may be purchased in advance or at the time of death by using the appropriate form.

3.3          The fees for the exclusive right of burial are at the rates which are in force at the time of the purchase. 

3.4          On payment of the prescribed fee, the purchaser of the exclusive right of burial will be given a Deed of Grant.

3.5          The purchase of the exclusive right of burial shall be for a period expiring on 6th May 2114, being the date of expiry of the Parish Council’s lease to the graveyard.

3.6          The Deed of Grant must be produced or a copy sent by post or email to the Clerk with the Notice of Interment.

3.7          In the event of the owner being deceased and the Deed of Grant not being available, a statutory declaration must be made by their successor before burial can be authorised. A form is available from the Clerk for this process.

3.8          Where the burial is that of the last registered grave owner, and the family wish to continue the right to be buried in the same grave, the ownership must be transferred using the appropriate documents available from the Clerk. The provisions of section 1.3 above continue to apply to, and are a pre-requisite for, any proposed transfer or assignment of a Deed of Grant.

3.9          The grantee or his or her successors must inform the Clerk, and submit the appropriate documents, when the right of ownership has been transferred to another person.

 

4.            Interments

4.1          All requests for burials should be directed to the Clerk and no interment shall take place without the prior permission of the Clerk.

4.2          The Notice of Interment must be given or emailed to the Clerk at least 5 working days prior to the interment although a provisional booking may be made by email or telephone prior to completing the Notice of Interment.

4.3          A properly completed Notice of Interment must be submitted on the Council’s form.  Responsibility for any errors or inaccuracies rests with the person giving the Notice. 

4.4          Interments shall normally take place on Mondays to Fridays inclusive. Ashes burials may take place on a Saturday.

4.5          The original or a copy of the Registrar’s or Coroner’s Certificate for the disposal shall be submitted to the Clerk at least two working days prior to the interment. Where a copy is sent, the original shall be handed to a representative of the Council at the funeral or posted to the Clerk immediately following the interment.

4.6          It is the responsibility of the person making the funeral arrangements to ensure that any existing memorial on the grave is removed from it at least 72 hours before the interment.

4.7          For the burial of a stillborn child, the Certificate of the Registrar of Births and Deaths that he or she has registered the stillbirth or has received official notice of the stillbirth or a Coroner’s Order for Burial must be delivered to the Clerk at least two working days prior to the interment.

4.8          The fees for burials are at the rates which are in force at the time of interment.  The fees do not include charges for the undertaker, grave digger or celebrant officiating at the burial.

4.9          Where the exclusive right of burial has not been purchased in advance, the EROB fee must be paid in addition to the interment fee at the time of burial.

 

5.            Graves

5.1          The burial plot will be allocated, and where necessary, marked out, by the Clerk.

5.2          The Council does not undertake the digging of graves or ashes plots. Responsibility for this task rests with the undertaker.  Grave diggers must adhere to the Code of Practice for Grave Digging.  No grave shall be dug in the burial ground without consultation with the Clerk.

5.3          The depths of graves shall be subject, from time to time, to the regulation, supervision and direction of the Council; normally no grave will be allowed to be deepened after first interment.

5.4          In view of 5.3 above, it is advised that if the eventual intention is that the grave should hold more than one deceased, then an EROB for a double-depth plot should be purchased (in advance or at the time of the first death), and the grave should be dug to the appropriate depth for the interment of the first deceased.

5.5          Reinstatement includes the requirement to make good and that all surplus spoil/soil is removed from the Chapel Graveyard by the gravedigger. After a period of six months to allow for settlement, all graves must then be levelled and grass reinstated with a minimum of 4 inches (10cm) of top soil.  In the absence of such reinstatement the Council will complete the work, without notice, and the cost shall be repaid to the Council by the undertakers.

 

6.            Coffins, caskets and urns

6.1          Coffins, caskets and urns for burial must be made from suitable biodegradable materials such as wood, wicker, cane, cardboard, bamboo etc.  The Council also permits shroud burial.

 

7.            Cremated Remains

7.1          Cremated remains may be interred in designated “ashes” plots or in otherwise full graves subject to the provisions of the Local Authorities Cemeteries Order 1977 relating to the opening of such graves.

7.2          A maximum of 6 cremated remains (in 2 rows of 3) may be added to a full-size grave containing previous burials. In practice, cremated remains are normally buried along the centre of the plot, restricting the number to 3.

7.3          The cremated remains plot will be allocated by the Clerk.

7.4          The exclusive right of burial may be purchased for plots for the interment of cremated remains.  The grant of the exclusive right shall be in accordance with Section 3 of these Regulations.

7.5          No burial of cremated remains shall take place without the prior permission of the Clerk.

7.6          Cremated remains must be interred either in a biodegradable container or directly into a single, poured, definable location in the ground.

7.7          Cremated remains may not be scattered in the Chapel Graveyard.

7.8          The Clerk is responsible for maintaining a diagrammatic record of casket or poured remains’ positions within a gravesite.

7.9          Section 4 of these Regulations shall also apply to the interment of cremated remains.

7.10        Before digging an area on an existing grave, grave diggers must obtain from the Clerk the casket location chart to determine where previous remains have been buried. Grave diggers are to take care so as not to expose or disturb previous interments.

 

8.            Memorials and Inscriptions

8.1          All memorials fixed in the Chapel Graveyard must comply with British Standard 8415 and the BRAMM Blue Book.

8.2          The Clerk must be notified of any memorial works and agree to the positioning of any memorial on a grave or ashes plot prior to work commencing to ensure correct alignment.

8.3          Headstones should normally be grey, black, red or white stone or marble. Headstones are not to exceed 1 metre / 3ft above ground level. 

8.4          One third of the height of the headstone must be underground for safety reasons.

8.5          Kerbstones, fences or other structures around graves are not normally permitted.

8.6          Ashes tablets should not normally exceed 40cm x 40cm (16” x 16”). A full size headstone may be erected on an ashes plot, but only where the plot is at the head of the row, so that the headstone is in line with those of the full size graves. Any wish to install a full size headstone must be discussed with the Council prior to the submission of a Notice of Interment.

8.7          Memorials, other than temporary grave markers, made of wood are not normally permitted due to the risk of unsightly weathering and damage when the grass is cut with a strimmer.

8.8          The Council reserves the right to approve proposed memorials and additional inscriptions to existing memorials.  A drawing of the memorial showing details of the dimensions and inscription must be submitted to the Council for approval.  The grave owner(s) must sign the form to give their permission for the proposed memorial works.

8.9          All memorials erected within the Chapel Graveyard shall be kept in good repair by and at the expense of the owner.

8.9          The Council has a duty to ensure memorials within the burial ground are safe, to ensure the safety of the public.  If, upon inspection, a memorial is considered to require repair work, the Council will contact the memorial owner, giving details of the defects found and requesting the memorial to be repaired within 3 months of the request date. If after this date no such work has begun, the Council will be at liberty to arrange for repair works to be completed and for the cost to be charged to the registered contact. The Council will use burial record contact details for this purpose.

                The Council reserves the right to remove any memorial which is allowed to fall ito disrepair or become dangerous.          

8.10        The Council may remove any memorials, which have been placed within the Chapel Graveyard without the required permission.

8.11        Memorial masons must leave the area in a tidy condition following any work carried out and to remove any surplus soil from the Chapel Graveyard.  It is not possible for memorials to be stored in the Chapel Graveyard prior to installation. 

8.12        The fee for the right to erect a memorial does not include charges for the manufacture, inscription or erection of the headstone or tablet.

 

9.          Memorial tablets not associated with graves

9.1        The Council will consider requests for a memorial tablet to be placed in the Chapel Graveyard where there has been no interment.  All requests should be directed to the Clerk.

9.2        Memorial tablets must lie flat on the ground, not exceed 30cm x 35cm (12”x14”) and be placed in a location allocated by the Clerk.

9.3        The Council reserves the right to approve the proposed memorial tablet and wording for the inscription.

 

10.          Maintenance of plots and disposal of rubbish

10.1        No trees or shrubs shall be planted within the Chapel Graveyard, including on any grave. Flowering bulbs and small plants are permitted on graves, provided they are properly maintained and the turf is replaced after planting.

10.2        No dressing of the graves or headstones is permitted. This includes scarves, ribbons, soft toys and other objects considered by the Council as being inappropriate.  The Council reserves the right to remove any inappropriate objects.

10.3        The Council reserves the right to prune, cut down or remove any overgrown plants placed on graves.

10.4        Floral tributes are to be removed before they deteriorate. Floral tributes that are considered to have deteriorated to an unsightly condition will be removed by the Council.

10.5        All waste, including dead flowers, plants, plant pots, vases or any other item, is to be removed and disposed of in appropriate receptacles away from the Chapel Graveyard.

10.6        Water is available at the rear of the Chapel building between the months of March and October and is then turned off.

 

11.            Fees

11.1          The current fees can be found on the Weedon website (www.weedonbucks.org.uk) or by contacting the Clerk.

11.2          All fees for interments shall be paid in advance.

11.3          All fees for memorials shall be paid prior to their erection.

 

 

 


The "Exclusive Right Of Burial" [EROB] explained

The Weedon Chapel Graveyard is a "private" cemetery. In order for someone to be buried there, the cemetery owner (Weedon Parish Council) must grant the Exclusive Right of Burial, either in advance or at the time of death. There will normally be a fee payable for this (see above for current schedule).

When a grave or grave plot in a private cemetery is described as “purchased” or “owned”, this refers to the purchasing of the Exclusive Right Of Burial in a grave space and not the purchase of the land itself.

This means that you do not own the land nor have any automatic right to place anything on that land, but only have the exclusive right, during the period stated in the Grant of Exclusive Right of Burial, to say who can be buried in the grave. Also, provided that you do not, during your lifetime, transfer the right to another person, and provided that the period stated on the Grant of Exclusive Right of Burial has not expired, you can choose to be buried in the grave yourself.

More details about the EROB and its use and transfer are available here.

 

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