Areas Within the Cemetery

Garden of Rest – this section is specifically for cremated remains

Lawn Section – most new full burials are in the lawn section – memorials are arranged in rows and kerbed graves are not allowed.

Traditional Section –all plots in the traditional section have been used or reserved; no further allocation is possible. Kerbed graves are allowed

Purchasing A Grave Space (Exclusive Right of Burial)

When a grave space is purchased the purchaser is not buying the land the grave occupies but the right to be buried there or to say who may be buried there; this is called purchasing the Exclusive Right of Burial (ERB). The ERB is purchased for 100 years, the land remains in the Town Council’s ownership.

When a purchase is made a Deed or Grant is issued by the burial authority (Town Council); this is a contract between the burial authority and the ERB owner.

The holder of the ERB has an automatic right to be interred in the plot for which they hold the ERB.

The holder of an ERB must give permission before any memorial is erected on the plot or any existing memorial has inscriptions added.

It is not necessary to purchase an ERB in order to arrange a burial but it will limit choices if one is not purchased.

An ERB may be purchased at any time, including in advance by completion of the form that can be downloaded from this page.

Transfer Exclusive Right of Burial

An ERB may be transferred by a living owner to another person – if this happens the living owner must be aware that the transfer of their rights means they do not have the automatic right to be buried in the plot themselves upon their death.

An ERB must be treated as part of a deceased person’s estate and the ERB must officially be transferred to the beneficiaries. The Town Council is unable to simply grant further burials upon request and must be satisfied that any person claiming to hold the ERB is legally entitled to it.

Any request to transfer an ERB must be made to the Town Council at the earliest opportunity.

Memorials

Garden of Rest – Only standard memorial tablets and vases are allowed and no other ornament is permitted. Vases and plaques must be purchased through the Town Council. Inscriptions are subject to the Town Council’s approval.

Lawn section

In this section of the Cemetery only standard “Lawn-type” monuments or gravestones not exceeding 1 metre (3 feet 6 inches) in height are allowed. These may incorporate one or two vases in the base.

In the Lawn Section of the Cemetery the monuments are arranged in rows, back-to-back. Gravestones are monuments and are therefore not necessarily “headstones” placed at the head of the grave in this section of the Cemetery.

Traditional Section

In this section of the Cemetery standard grave furniture is allowed as follows:

(a)           A flat stone not exceeding 2.5 metres by 1.25 metres (8 feet by 4 feet);

(b)           A footstone not exceeding 0.5 metres (1 foot 6 inches) in height;

(c)           Kerb or border stones enclosing a space not exceeding 2.5 metres by 1.25 metres (8 feet by 4 feet);

(d)           Kerb or border stones enclosing a space exceeding 2.5 metres by 1.25 metres (8 feet by 4 feet);

(e)           A vase not exceeding 0.3 metres (15 inches) in height incorporated into (c) or (d) above;

(f)             An open book or tablet incorporated into (c) or (d) above.