If you have suffered a bereavement we can help you make important decisions about the cemetery and choice of grave at this difficult time. Your undertaker would normally help to make the necessary arrangements for buying a grave although some people may want to make their own arrangements.
Details
There are 7 cemeteries in the borough although only Biggin Hill and St Mary Cray cemeteries are available for "new" burials. You can also bury cremated remains at our Chislehurst and Bromley Hill Cemeteries. If you would like to select a particular site for a grave at St Mary Cray or Biggin Hill cemetery, a member of staff can meet with you. There are three types of grave available:
- Private - Full memorial - this allows the owners of the grave to erect a full headstone and surrounds on the grave after burial. For an annual fee we can provide a grave maintenance service (please contact us for cemetery fees and details of charges) ;
- Private - Lawn section - these areas are designed to be kept maintained at no expense to the owner. The grave is covered with turf and a headstone erected with a stone base large enough to hold flowers or a wreath; and
- Public ("common grave") - no headstones or memorials allowed. The council decides who is to be buried in the grave and this may not be a member of the same family.
Costs
Cemetery fees and details of charges.
Grave spaces are limited and we charge four times more for non-parishioners. A parishioner is someone who who either lives or dies within the borough's boundaries. For more details please see definition of a parishioner.
Private grave plots provide the exclusive right of burial for 60 years and once this time has passed, the right can be extended for a further 40 years. Only two burial spaces per person can be purchased at any time and both single and double graves are available.