It might be something that you’ve never thought about…
Or it might have fleetingly crossed your mind once or twice and then disappeared just as quickly when you’ve dismissed it as fanciful. But is it out of the question to be buried on your own land? And would you even want to be?
I don’t know if you’ve ever visited the houses and grounds of stately homes, but if you have, you may have spotted a few human graves in the odd corner. Being buried on their own land is something that the aristocracy have sometimes chosen to do over the centuries.
Credit photo to By Simon Ledingham, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=9178234
Many of us will remember the funeral of Princess Diana which culminated in her body being taken to the Spencer family estate at Althorp Park for its final resting place. Although few of us will have 13000 acres of grounds in which to put our own burial plot, how much land would you actually need to have your grave, or that of a loved one, located in the ‘back garden’? And do you have to get permission from someone before you put a grave there?
The gentle Johnny Morris, host of the children’s programme Animal Magic, had his wife buried in their four-acre garden so that he could visit her every day for the rest of his life. But even this lesser amount of land is more than enough. After all, the size of a generous burial plot is less than four square metres.
Peace Funerals have helped several families to arrange burials on their own land. The land in question has ranged from a reasonably large farm to an average sized back garden of a former council house in Doncaster. And the one thing that these places had in common – it was where the person being buried wanted to be.
There are practical issues. You must own the freehold of the land. And the plot must be a certain distance away from water courses and standing water. But the whole process is less complicated than you might imagine. However, you must remember that this is a once and forever decision. Moving someone’s body after they have been buried is either going to be problematic or impossible. And don’t forget, you cannot know that the land in question will always be owned by a family member.
If you want to read more, the Environment Agency publishes a guide about the regulations for Home Burials. https://www.gov.uk/guidance/cemeteries-and-burials-prevent-groundwater-pollution#human-home-burials
And if you really think this might be the option for you, want the support of experienced professionals to guide you, call your local funeral director.
Article by Peace Funerals
