Tithe Green Natural Burial FAQs
Questions and answers
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The majority of funerals at Tithe Green Natural Burial are arranged through local Funeral Directors who then liaise directly with us to organise the funeral on your behalf.
It is possible however for a family to make their own arrangements. We would be very happy to offer help and advice on all aspects of planning under these circumstances.
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Tithe Green is able to offer both woodland and meadow burials, as well as the interment of ashes. A woodland burial is one where a tree is placed directly on the grave whereas a meadow burial is in an open meadow.
In addition memorial trees can be purchased and planted to form part of the woodland adjacent to the meadow burials.
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Each of our sites is open during all daylight hours, seven days a week. No appointment is required.
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Ashes can be interred in two ways at Tithe Green;
- Woodland ashes interment, where ashes are placed beneath a memorial tree.
- A meadow ashes plot. These are in the wildflower meadow. These plots can be purchased in advance and can be reserved next to a recent interment
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All of our grave sites are accurately plotted and tracked. You may mark a grave by the placing of a grave memorial plaque or for woodland plots a tree plaque.
Plaques can be purchased directly from Tithe Green.
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Yes, meadow and woodland plots can be pre-purchased. Meadow ashes plots can also be purchased in advance.
Plots are normally chosen at the time of burial, or at the time of the first burial.
Interment fees or the purchase of trees and plaques cannot be pre-purchased and are made at the time of burial.
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Yes, plots are available for purchase within the meadow areas and in this instance the actual plots are chosen at the time of the first burial. Pre -purchase of adjacent plots are not possible with woodland burials.
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If you have any further questions, please contact us.
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Where a grave or tree plaque has been ordered online you will be sent an email design mock-up of the plaque for confirmation and approval, before details are then sent to the stonemason for creation.
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We endeavour to process all orders within a 14 day period.
For orders of grave plot grants, the documents will be posted direct to the applicant
In the case of memorial trees and interment of ashes beneath memorial trees and where an email address has been supplied a receipt will be sent by email to the applicant, confirming the order.
The planting of the tree can only occur between November and February each year and you will then be contacted during this period to arrange a suitable time and date.
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Advance purchase plots are non-refundable
In the case of memorial trees and plaques, once the order has been placed with our external suppliers, a refund can no longer be given.
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We will generally go ahead with all planned interments except in the event of extreme weather. With burials, the same principle applies, but it is usually left at the discretion of the funeral director to decide if it is safe to proceed.
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No. You can have as simple – or complicated – a ceremony as you want. That could include anything from a full service to a direct cremation without anyone attending at all.
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For an ashes interment, all you need to bring with you are the ashes and a cremation certificate, which will have been issued at the crematorium.
For a burial, everything that is required to proceed will be organised by your funeral directors, so there is nothing you need to bring at all.
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Any coffin, casket or urn that is intended for burial or interment at our natural burial site must be 100% biodegradable. This means that there should be no glues or resins used in its manufacture. Popular alternatives to traditional containers are ones made of willow, wicker, wool, cardboard or plain untreated pine.
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We usually book each burial into a one-hour slot and allow half an hour for an interment. However, this can be extended if required.
If you think your service will need longer than the allocated time, please let us know in advance so that we can ensure there will be no crossover or impact with another planned service.
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You’re welcome to leave any cut flowers, but please make sure that you remove the cellophane or any other non-biodegradable items first.
You should not leave trinkets or memorial items, while any plants or bulbs you leave should be wildflowers that are native to the UK.
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We are pleased to offer the following great choice of memorial trees for your plot:
- Beech
- Cherry
- Rowan
- Crab Apple
- Lime
- Hazel
- Whitebeam
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There are numerous strict regulations that need to be followed in order to run a service such as ours. These include the requirement that the site must be a burial ground for at least 100 years after the last plot is sold.
When the site is full, the whole area will become public access woodland. And we’re not going to be selling it either – the land has been owned by the same family for 500 years!
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No, there are no restrictions on who can be buried or interred at our burial ground. We’re open to all, regardless of religion or where they live.
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Pets are allowed on site, but we do ask that you keep them on a lead and make sure that you clean up after them.
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We are unfortunately unable to provide toilet facilities at any of our sites.
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Each site has parking for approximately 50 cars.
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We don’t impose any formal maximum number, but we find that any more than about 100 people attending brings logistical issues, principally to do with the available parking and the proximity of graves to each other.