FUNERALS

Please contact:

Rev David Johnson, 07341 655530, 

Rev Anthony Bush, 01305 852242, 07711 749120,

Mrs Jenny Bagnall, Licensed Lay Minister, 01305 854950

Is it Possible to Have my Loved one Buried, Their Ashes Interred, or to Have a Memorial Service Here?

We welcome requests from funeral directors for ceremonies including interments of bodies or ashes. Each parish offers this support for anyone mainly resident at time of death in the parishes of our Benefice; anyone who died within them or was a Church Member (on the Electoral Roll) at time of death. The next available plot is usually offered by the Church Wardens, though Faculties may be sought to book specific locations in advance (contact the Office in the first instance). Further, it is tradition at St Catherine by the Sea, Holworth, to accept interment of loose ashes in a shared plot for people with a significant connection to the place. (This arrangement is not suitable where next of kin require an individual memorial.) Strewing of ashes is not permitted on any of our land.

What Types of Service are Available? Where and When? How are They Arranged?

Services may take place in our churches, churchyards, the Crematorium or Cemetery. We are happy for the main service to take place before or after the cremation and or interment. Funeral directors administer the fees both Statutory and local in line with weddings. We meet beforehand to look at the structure of the service, agree arrangements, including music, readings and items for the eulogy or tribute. We prepare outlines to help with the production of service leaflets as necessary. Details will be recorded in the Services and Burial Registers as appropriate.

What Support do you Offer Bereaved People?

Many people find Coffee Mornings, Soup Lunches and other events provide valuable support, alongside good neighbourliness. Prayers for the bereaved and those who have died are offered in our services. Families bereaved in the last year may receive a card in memory on the anniversary of their loved one's death. They will also be invited to our November Remembering Loved ones service at West Knighton to hear read the names of those who died in that time (alongside others as requested).

What Sort of Gravestones are Allowed?

The Diocese of Salisbury Regulate what may and may not be set up to mark plots. In churchyards, tablets over ashes must be about a foot square and usually level with the ground. They, and headstones on burial plots, must match the church (if stone) and the memorials around them. This generally means eggshell finished Portland stone is used, black mirror polished marble is not. Choice of words and images must recognise the location, and bear in mind how long they will be there.