Burials in Private Land
Although burials principally occur in purpose-designed
cemeteries or churchyards, there are some exceptions. Families with
large estates have routinely built a mausoleum or similar building
on their land, for the burial of family members. Some individuals
have been buried in farmland and others in gardens, without this
becoming generally known. More recently, this form of burial has
obtained media coverage and numbers have significantly increased.
Much of this has been owing to the Natural Death Centre (www.naturaldeath.org.uk), a
charity formed to support a less formalised routine for funerals,
as well as a better approach to death generally. They have issued a
handbook and a further publication called ‘Green Burial’, which
explains how to arrange these burials within legal and planning
requirements.
There are several advantages of this form of burial. It allows
you to organise a very personal funeral, in which you maintain
total control. You are able to reduce costs significantly by
avoiding the use of a funeral director, by making your own coffin
or dispensing with this altogether, and not having to purchase a
grave in a cemetery.
It is essential that you obtain permission to complete a burial,
where you are not the landowner of the ground involved. You are
also advised to notify any individual or mortgage company that has
an interest in the property. Access to the grave may be denied or
restricted by change of ownership. The difficulties are also
significant, although these vary according to the location. Most
locations fall into two categories, on farmland and in a
garden.
Farmland
These locations are rarely overlooked and will not offend
neighbours or the public at large. The grave site should be on land
with a deep water table and be sufficient distance from
watercourses so as not to pose a pollution threat. Electrical or
other services must obviously be avoided. A limited number of
burials over a period of time may not constitute a “change of use”
and no planning approval is thereby necessary.
Information submitted by the Natural Death Centre states “Recent
local authority Certificates of Lawfulness have decided that
planning permission is not required for the non-commercial burial
on private land of a limited number of family, friends or those
living in the house. The decisions have not been tested in the
courts. The Department of the Environment are more cautious, and
accept merely that planning permission is not required for the
burial of one or two persons in back gardens”.
Exceeding a “limited” number of burials may require planning
approval for use as a cemetery or for “mixed use” if farming is
also to continue. Safe grave excavation would be a further
consideration, as well as leaving sufficient depth of soil (three
foot) over the body. If it is intended to fence or mark the
grave(s) with a memorial, planning permission may be required. In
effect, a single burial in a farm situation can proceed without an
approach to, or the approval of, any council or other official
organisation.
Garden
The situation in a garden is complicated by the proximity of
neighbours. They may oppose a burial nearby and may be offended.
Otherwise, the aspects outlined under farm burials are broadly
similar. The particular difficulty in these locations is the
reduction of the property value owing to the presence of a
grave.
Two major concerns influence this choice of burial. Firstly, the
body could be exhumed by any new property purchaser, and re-buried
in a cemetery. This reason for obtaining an exhumation licence has
yet to be tested, but would seem feasible. There are legal means
(restrictive covenant) by which you can ensure the grave remains
untouched, but this will involve costs and other uncertainties.
Secondly, details of the burial will not be officially recorded as
they would be in a cemetery. Nonetheless, it appears that there is
a statutory requirement for the landowner to maintain a register of
burials. This can be in the form of a sheet of paper or notebook,
preferably with a plan to show the location. A certificate for
burial issued by a Coroner or Registrar of Births and Deaths will
have to be obtained. The detachable section of this is to be
completed and returned to the Registrar by the person arranging a
burial.
Depending upon the circumstances, you may find it difficult to
obtain a funeral director to help you with this type of burial. You
can of course do the funeral without a funeral director.
Information issued by the Institute of Cemetery and
Crematorium Management.
Cemeteries Service, 2 Penner Road, Havant, Hampshire,PO9
1QH.
Telephone 023 9244 6425
E-mail: cemeteries@havant.gov.uk