Grave deed
When purchasing a private grave, you'll be given a deed that grants you the exclusive right of burial. This deed does not give you ownership of the land, only the right of burial.
The grave deed must be produced whenever the grave is required to be opened for an interment (burial). When the grave has to be re-opened for a burial, you should:
- give the deed to your Funeral Director who will make all the arrangements for you, and
- make sure the deed is returned to you after the funeral.
You should keep the deed in a safe place. If you lose or misplace the deed, this could cause a delay at an inconvenient time, so it is recommended to keep it safe with other important documents. If anyone else holds the grave deed, they may have the grave opened for a burial.
If you do lose the grave deed, please contact Bury Cemetery Office to get advice on the necessary procedure.
Grave ownership
The person whose name appears on the grave deed as the purchaser of the exclusive right (registered grave owner) is the only person who can authorise the erection of a memorial or the cutting of an inscription, for example.
When the registered grave owner dies, the deed passes to the executors or next of kin. The registered owner can transfer the title to the grave to another person. Such transfers are not valid unless registered with the Cemetery Office, as this allows us to contact the current registered owner, if needed.
Capacity of a private grave
A private grave will normally hold four adult interments, but there's no guarantee this can be the case. The reason is that cemetery conditions vary from time to time and from place to place, and there are other factors that can affect the capacity of a grave. The capacity is not affected by the burial of small caskets containing cremated remains.
When a grave is opened for an interment to take place, the soil from this grave will have to be placed on the adjacent graves. The inconvenience to people visiting these graves is unavoidable, but temporary. Cemetery staff will place boards on the nearby graves to protect them, any monuments and gardened graves. For garden grave, please be aware that staff cannot be held responsible for unavoidable damage to them.
Gardened graves
Graves may be gardened up to a maximum of 1 metre by 1 metre immediately in front of the headstone, subject to the grave being maintained at all times.
Planting of trees, conifers or shrubs in gardened graves is prohibited.
If any kerbstones of any description are placed around the grave, these are entirely at the owners risk. Cemetery staff are not responsible for the maintenance around these kerbs.
If your grave or an adjoining grave is to be opened, it is the owners responsibility to have the kerbstones and, if requested, the headstone removed and replaced to the current safety standard.
Memorials
Memorials must be erected in neat lines or placed on the concrete foundation where available.
Owners of monuments are responsible for keeping them in repair and good order. We reserve the right to remove monuments which are considered to be unsafe. A safety check will be carried out on an annual basis by officers trained to Health and Safety standards.
Memorials and flower holders remain on graves entirely at the owner's sole risk and we cannot accept responsibility for damage. Flower containers must be positioned close to memorials and not on the grave itself as they could be damaged by the mowing machinery.
Please do not place glass vases on the grave as this material, along with ceramics, wirework and plastic fences or surrounds are not allowed and will be removed.
There are certain regulations governing the size and construction of memorials, including the materials they are made of. This will be explained to you by your monumental mason. All new memorials in the cemeteries must be fitted by a stonemason registered with us, this list is available from the Cemetery Office.
For all monuments brought into the cemetery, a permission fee must be paid to us by the monumental mason. Please check the monumental mason has included these charges when providing you with a quote.
Visiting the cemetery
Friends or relatives who wish to visit the grave may not be able to find it without the grave reference number shown on your grave deed. Make a note of the grave number when visiting the cemetery.
Cemetery staff will be able to help you if you have difficulty in locating the grave. A map is available at the cemetery gates and all plots are to have markers.
Under no circumstances should you give money to someone who approaches you in cemetery grounds to offer the supply of a memorial or to work on the grave. No reputable mason would canvass for work in such a manner and all other work should be paid for at the Cemetery Office where you will be issued with an official receipt. Only registered stonemasons are allowed to operate in our cemeteries.
Bicycles are not permitted to be ridden in the cemetery. Dogs must be kept on a lead at all times and any person in charge of a dog must remove faeces deposited by the dog from any area in the cemetery.