Warcop Parish Cemetery, Castlehill Road, Warcop
Introduction
Warcop Parish Cemetery is owned and operated by Warcop Parish Council on behalf of the Parish. Its primary function is to provide a final resting place for the deceased of the Parish in a manner of their or their surviving relatives choosing. The Cemetery provides for normal graves, half-graves for ashes and a woodland burial area for more natural interments. Memorial headstones may be erected in the more formal area of the Cemetery.
The Cemetery is currently configured into 3 areas:
- The old part of the Cemetery at the eastern end is full and maintained in a natural state as a wildlife and biodiversity area. Trees and shrubs are managed sympathetically to ensure damage to the Cemetery infrastructure (e.g. dry stone walls) is minimised. A single pathway is mown clear through this area to enable access.
- The current part of the Cemetery in the centre is kept mown and tidy throughout the growing season (nominally April to October). All new interments are made in this area or the Woodland Burial Area.
- The Woodland Burial Area at the western end of the Cemetery is not regularly mown but will be kept manageable with strimming and grass cutting from time to time during the growing season.
The rules for interments in the current and Woodland burial areas are contained within the Cemetery Regulations in this section.
Graves in Warcop Cemetery
Purchased and Unpurchased Graves
Unpurchased Grave
An unpurchased grave, sometimes known as a rotation, public or common grave, is where the right to burial is not purchased. Warcop Parish Council have total control of the grave. And decide who is interred within the grave. This may not be members of the same family.
No memorial rights exist on unpurchased graves. A memorial cannot be erected.
Purchased Grave
A purchased grave has Exclusive Rights of Burial to the grave for a period of 100 years.
Only the legal owner of the Exclusive Rights of Burial for the grave can give permission for other burials and a memorial. The legal grave owner must authorise this and follow our Cemetery Regulations.
Exclusive rights of Burial may be bequeathed, in accordance with a valid will or will follow the establish rights of succession. Any change of ownership following an owners’ passing must be notified to the Clerk to Warcop Parish Council so that the ownership record may be updated.
In theory, Warcop Parish Council may remove memorials and re-use graves once the Exclusive Rights of Burial expire. The oldest graves in Warcop Parish Cemetery date back to the 1870s and it is Warcop Parish Councils current policy to not reuse existing graves.
Purchasing a Grave
Exclusive rights of Burial to a grave may be purchased as part of funeral arrangements or may be purchased in advance to reserve a space for individuals and/or families in the future.
Exclusive Rights to Burial can be purchased by contacting the Clerk to the Parish Council at any time. The Funeral Director will usually help make the necessary arrangements for buying a grave as part of the funeral arrangements.
Anyone can buy the Exclusive Rights of Burial for a grave space. There is an additional fee for those not living in the Westmorland and Furness District, unless the grave space is being purchased for an upcoming funeral of a Westmorland and Furness Resident[1].
See the Cemetery Fees and Charges information for costs of purchasing full and half space graves.
Timing of Burials
See the Cemetery Regulations for details of days and times interments can take place.
Types of Graves
Lawn Graves
Graves in the main part of the Cemetery are known as Lawn Graves. After burial, the grave is levelled with soil and then grass turfed. The Parish Council maintain the grassed area. Grave spaces in these areas are available for up to three full burials in Warcop Cemetery.
Woodland Graves
There is a woodland burial area available at Warcop Parish Cemetery. The graves are single depth only. Permanent memorials are not permitted on the graves.
Children’s Graves
Half grave spaces are available for the burial of young children and babies at Warcop Parish Cemetery.
Cremated Remains
Half grave spaces are available for interment of up to four caskets of cremated remains at Warcop Parish Cemetery. Exclusive Rights of Burial may be purchased for these graves and a memorial may be erected. Cremated remains may also be interred in an existing family grave for which Exclusive Rights of Burial exist.
Tributes on the Grave
Floral tributes may be placed on a grave following a funeral. The Parish Council will remove floral tributes presented at the grave at the time of burial when the flowers have wilted and become unsightly. Those visiting the grave may place floral tributes at any time (see Cemetery Regulations) and maintain the grave.
Maintenance of Graves
Our Grounds Maintenance Contractor maintains the grassed areas in the cemetery. The Grounds Maintenance Contractor cuts the grass on routine cycles. Maintenance of the grass may not take place whilst there are floral tributes.
The responsibility for the safety and upkeep, including repairs, of any gravestone or memorial, remains with the grave owner(s).
Cemetery regulations
Cemetery access
The Cemetery is open to the public at all times. The gates are normally kept closed; please respect this and make sure that the gates are closed behind you.
Children under the age of 12 are not permitted within the Cemetery grounds unless accompanied by an adult.
Cycling within the Cemetery is prohibited.
Vehicular access to the Cemetery is prohibited unless by prior arrangement with the Parish Council[2]
No dogs shall be admitted to a cemetery unless kept on a leash and under proper control and any fouling must be removed.
Persons visiting the Cemetery should endeavour not to walk on the graves and should confine themselves to the Cemetery paths.
All persons entering the Cemetery grounds do so at their own risk. The Parish Council reserves the right to remove any person deemed to be creating a nuisance in the grounds.
No person shall wilfully impede, obstruct, disturb or interrupt any officer or workman of the Council or its appointed contractors in the proper discharge of their Cemetery duties. All work in the Cemetery must have prior authorisation by the Parish Council.
Burials
For an interment in any grave, a minimum of 72 hours’ notice must be given in writing to the Clerk to the Parish Council, and in the case of a grave to be dug in excess of double depth, additional notice may be required.
Interments on Saturdays or Public holidays (other than those mentioned below) may be carried out by special arrangement only where an extra fee will be payable. These are subject to mutual agreement and staff availability.
No interments will be carried out on Sundays, Good Friday or Christmas Day or Boxing Day, except in cases of emergency certified by the Coroner or registered Medical Practitioner.
The Registrar’s Certificate or Coroner’s Order for Burial must be conveyed to the Clerk to the Parish Council on or before the day of interment. If this is not produced a burial will not be allowed to proceed.
All interments must be correctly identified with the name of the deceased.
All interments must take place in a biodegradable container unless by special arrangement.
Graves
The size of a standard grave space shall be in accordance with the plan and layout the cemetery.
Grave spaces of less than standard size may be provided where special areas are set aside for the burial of children or for the interment or scattering of cremated remains.
Graves have to be dug to a sufficient depth to allow for future burials to take place. The grave needs to be deep enough to allow the depth and shape of coffins/caskets. It must accommodate the legal requirements of undisturbed earth between each coffin and the amount of earth that must cover the last interment.
We reserve the right to place a soil box on a grave next to those which are being opened, without any notice. Cemetery staff will remove the soil box immediately after the interment and will leave the grave as it was before.
No burial shall take place and no cremated remains shall be interred or scattered in any cemetery without the permission of the Clerk to the Parish Council.
Public Graves
All persons resident within the boundaries of the Parish shall be entitled to be buried in a public grave in the Cemetery on payment of the prescribed interment fees.
These are graves which are not purchased and do not have Exclusive Rights to the grave. A memorial cannot be erected on a Public Grave
Exclusive Rights of Burial
The Council will grant the Exclusive Right of Burial in an unpurchased grave space, or an extension of such an existing right, on payment of the prescribed fee, subject to approval by the Council and as required by law.
No interment may take place, other than that of the deceased owner; without the written consent of the owner of the Exclusive Rights of Burial to a grave. This includes the interment of cremated remains.
No memorial can be placed, altered or repaired without the written consent of the owner of the exclusive rights to the grave. If the owner is deceased then the ownership must be transferred.
Exclusive Rights of Burial will be granted for a period of no longer than 100 years.
The Exclusive Right of Burial may be assigned to another person with consent from the owner in writing. If the owner is deceased, a will or probate will have to be produced for a transfer to take place. If these documents are not available a Statutory Declaration must be made, witnessed by a solicitor or magistrate, and returned to the Council for registration.
If the family do not wish to purchase the Exclusive Right of Burial to a baby grave the rights remain with the Council. However, the family are permitted to place a memorial on the grave and any mementoes. The grave will be maintained consistent with other graves unless the family make it known that they wish to maintain the grave themselves.
Memorialisation
Memorial stones
Erection of a memorial shall only be permitted on a grave in which the Exclusive Right of Burial has been purchased.
No memorial shall be allowed on a private grave without the consent in writing of the owner of the Exclusive Right of Burial.
A wooden cross or stone vase is permitted on a grave as a temporary grave marker in lawn cemetery areas, before the installation of a permanent memorial. The temporary memorial must be removed from the Cemetery once the permanent memorial is installed.
Proposals for memorials, including inscriptions, will normally be submitted to the Parish Council for approval by the memorial mason. Alternatively, the family or executor for the deceased may submit directly.
No permanent memorials will be allowed to be erected in areas designated as Woodland Burial Areas – any materials or markings placed in this area may be removed.
Headstones and memorials shall be fixed at the head of the grave in the space provided and nowhere else. All memorials must be fixed onto a NAMM approved foundation and be securely fitted in.
All new memorials and memorials re-fixed following the inscribing of an additional inscription shall be fixed with a NAMM approved type of ground anchor fixing and comply with the current NAMM Code of Safe Working Practice.
We may temporarily remove fixed memorials without prior notice to allow a nearby grave to be safely dug in preparation for use.
If a memorial has been erected without the required approval and permission, the Parish Council reserves the right to remove it at the expense of the owner.
The responsibility for the safety and upkeep, including repairs to any gravestone or memorial, remains solely with the owner(s) of the grave or their successor(s) in title.
The Parish Council shall not be held responsible for any injury from or damage to a memorial through any cause whatsoever.
Stone Masons
A competent stonemason must construct and install all permanent memorials in accordance with the current National Association of Memorial Masons Code of Practice.
All monumental masons undertaking work in the Cemeteries must have adequate Public Liability Insurance.
Before fixing any memorials, all stonemasons must contact the Clerk to the Parish Council and submit the appropriate permit.
Monumental masons must suspend work for the duration of a funeral.
Memorabilia
Cut Flowers and other personal tributes may be placed within the area of the headstone base in a suitable vase or container. Glassed Jars and bottles are not permitted as they are breakable and prove dangerous to the public and ground staff.
The Parish Council cannot accept responsibility for the safety of flower holders or their contents, and other items and reserves the right to remove any such articles including artificial flowers, which may have become broken or unsightly.
The Parish Council does not accept responsibility for any personal items which families place on their graves and reserve the right to remove any items not contained within the footprint of the headstone base (36”x18”); or which are deemed to be dangerous, a nuisance, or inappropriate.
Grave surrounds
Fences are not permitted on the graves. The Parish Council reserves the right to remove any fencing, surround or other obstruction that interferes with the efficient maintenance of the grave.
No new kerbstones or any other form of grave surround shall be permitted and the deposit of stone or other chippings on any grave space (full or ashes) shall be prohibited.
Flowers
Immediately after any interment, the Parish Council will ensure that the grave is backfilled to the level of adjoining ground and any floral tributes left at the time of burial will be placed on the grave.
The Parish Council will remove floral tributes placed at the time of burial after no less than three weekends following a burial taking place.
The Parish Council will remove Christmas wreaths before the commencement of the grass cutting season.
The Parish Council have the right to decide to remove floral tributes if they become unsightly.
In order to facilitate the maintenance of the Cemetery, planting is not permitted on graves.
[1] Westmorland and Furness Resident – An individual who lived in the Westmorland and Furness area within their last 12 months. Please be aware, we can make official checks to confirm this.
[2] Any member of the Parish Council, including the Clerk, may grant permissions for the Cemetery.