The Parish Council is responsible for the current cemetery at the far end of the church and for the older cemetery across the road which is now only available for the reopening of existing graves. The area immediately surrounding the church is a “closed churchyard” and its maintenance is the responsibility of St Edmundsbury Borough Council.

The “new” cemetery was designated as a lawn cemetery from its beginning. This means that most of the actual grave area and the surroundings should be grassed. This was in order to keep it as a peaceful and attractive site for mourners and residents to visit and also to enable safer access and easier long term maintenance.

The following is designed to give some basic information about the lawn cemetery and who to contact for further information. Please see the full regulations for details of conditions and fees. CemeteryRegulations.pdf
Please note that these regulations include restrictions on memorials and there are differences for allowed memorials on grave plots and cremated remains plots. Please do not assume that any particular existing memorial size or form will be allowed in future. The undertaker should go through the regulations with you in particular regard to memorials and maintenance but if you have any queries they should be resolved before any burial takes place.  

If you have any questions about the Cemetery please contact: Vicki Gay

Clerk to Barningham Parish Council
StubbingsEntry Farmhouse
The Common
Botesdale
Diss, Norfolk, IP22 1LJ

Email vickigay@tiscali.co.uk

Tel: 01379 898733

Barningham Parish Council is legally responsible for managing and controlling the cemetery and authorises the Parish Clerk to act with its authority and enforce the regulations. The regulations are needed to ensure that we are fair to all, to keep everyone safe, and to maintain our cemetery to a high standard.

Copies of the regulations are held by local undertakers and can be seen on the notice-board in the cemetery. They can also be made available by the Parish Clerk.

The council keeps plans and records of graves which visitors may view, by appointment, during normal office hours.

Barningham is a lawn cemetery and as such all graves will be grassed, as soon as practical with no mounds or kerb sets. You may install a memorial of the dimensions indicated in the regulations, on the payment of the correct fee, at the head of the grave. You may not place any other memorial or other items in or around the grave space or on the grassed area in front of the grave with the exception of the first 12” of grass in front of the memorial. The Council reserves the right to remove any memorials it considers to be inappropriate or offensive.

Opening times

The cemeteries are open daily to visitors. You may bring dogs into the cemeteries but they must be kept on a lead and under your control at all times.

Interment

Undertakers and those arranging the burial can apply for a burial by contacting the Clerk. The service operates from 9am to 5pm, Mondays (apart from bank holidays) to Fridays. You must deliver a completed interment notice to the office at least two clear days before the interment (excluding Saturdays, Sundays and bank holidays).

The council will not allow a grave, covered by an Exclusive Right of Burial, to be re-opened without the written permission of the registered owner unless the burial is to be that of the registered owner.

When excavating graves we reserve the right to move memorials and to place excavated soil on nearby graves to make room for equipment. We will return the memorials to the original positions and tidy any disturbed neighbouring graves as soon as possible after the burial.

Only the council can authorise or employ people to prepare graves.

Provided that there is sufficient room and subject to receiving consent from the Clerk cremated remains can be interred in any grave in the cemetery for which you have the Exclusive Right of Burial (ERB).

Exclusive Right of Burial

At the time of the interment you buy an ERB for a grave for a period of 50 (fifty) years. The Exclusive Right of Burial deed holder is entitled to decide who is buried in the grave and whether a memorial can be erected on it (once the relevant fee is paid and the council has given permission).

Memorial sizes - Burial Plots

Headstones and memorials must not exceed 825mm (2’9”) in height (above ground level); 610mm (2’) in width. The stone must be of sufficient thickness to support its height, and any reasonable force exerted upon it, to ensure its stability. The foundation must be sunk into the ground so that the top surface is flush with, or below the adjoining ground level.

Memorial sizes -New Cremated Remains Plot

Only desk type memorials will be permitted in the new cremated remains plot (subject to the Councils approval)

Management of memorials

At the time of purchase of the memorial you buy a Grant of Rights to Erect and Maintain a Memorial for an initial period of ten years, which has an option for renewal at the end of the period.

The Stonemason will provide a form to complete if you wish to apply for permission to erect a memorial, add an inscription or carry out any other work on a memorial.

The form will include: name and address of the memorial mason who will carry out the work; material and measurements of the memorial; details of inscription and a diagram of the proposed memorial, including fixing methods; and full names and signatures of the registered grave owner/s to give permission for the work. You may be required to remove any work that you do, or any memorials or kerb sets, and pay all the costs of removal, if these do not comply with the cemetery regulations. You may only use granite, marble, slate or other suitable material of durable and sound quality for memorials and we do not permit any kerb sets

The owner of the ERB is responsible for keeping the memorial in a good and safe condition. The Council is permitted to remove any memorial that becomes unsafe or is otherwise dilapidated.

You may fix photographic plaques, of a head and shoulder shot of the deceased only, if you have the council’s written approval.

Any person removing a memorial to permit a further interment may only do so after informing the Council.

The council may provide memorial benches at various locations within the cemetery and may relocate them if necessary.

Maintenance
All floral tributes will be removed two weeks following the interment unless we are told in writing that the Family wish to arrange for their removal. The council will remove Christmas wreaths from 1 February each year.
Temporary wooden markers are required for all internments. If no permanent marker is erected within 2 years the council reserves the right to install a permanent marker. The council reserves the right to remove from any grave space, flowers, plants, floral tributes or wreaths, which have deteriorated or become unsightly.