Green burials

'Green' burials have different meanings for different people. Below are some frequently requested services:

• That the coffin is made from environmentally friendly materials such as cardboard or wicker
• That the funeral is a simple one e.g. no flowers or large cars
• That a memorial is not required
• That the burial takes place in a natural surrounding, which has a conservation policy.
• That the body is not embalmed
• That the funeral is carried out by the family and close friends without a funeral director
• That the burial is in an unpurchased grave

We have information on how you can carry out a burial yourself.

You can also decide how you would like your burial to take place by completing an Advanced Funeral Wishes form, which is available from this link, or from the Cemetery Office. This will ensure that everything is handled in the way you would like. The service, either in a church, the cemetery chapel, or at the graveside, can be conducted by family or friends. You may prefer a humanist ceremony, spiritualist service, or a civil ceremony

A Living Will is also available, and this would help you to specify the care you would like to receive should you become unable to communicate at a later stage.  This document can be found in the Natural Death Centre website.

Reserving a grave

You may wish to reserve a grave space. The reservation of any grave space is subject to availability.

The non-refundable fee to reserve a grave space is for a five year period. You may only reserve one grave space and it does not issue you with any rights to erect a memorial, place flowers or mark the grave space in any way. Each grave allows up to two full burials and subsequently eight cremated remains; Twickenham and Teddington cemeteries can offer up to four full burials, on request. The necessary cemetery fees are payable when the first burial is required. If there is a specific area of a cemetery in which you would like a grave, the cemetery office will attempt to locate one for you, on request.

Further information is available from the cemeteries office, or you may wish to complete a grave reservation form(pdf, 26KB) from here.