The previous chapter told how people could organise a funeral themselves. This one is for those who want help from the trade, and is a guide to the best cemeteries, crematoria, funeral suppliers and undertakers - for those who may want just one service from an undertaker, such as a coffin or cold storage facilities, or a complete service, whether an inexpensive basic funeral or a magnificent coffin with glass sided carriage and Friesian horses.
- The Natural Death Handbook Award for the Most Helpful Funeral Director. This award goes to James Gibson in Bolton (see pages 155, 156 and 168).
- The Natural Death Handbook Award for the Most Helpful Funeral Supplier. This award goes to Green Undertakings in Leeds (see pages 155 and 170).
- The Natural Death Handbook Award for the Most Helpful Crematorium. This award goes to the Mid-Warwickshire Crematorium (see pages 165 and 172).
- The Natural Death Handbook Award for the Most Helpful Cemetery. This award goes to the Carlisle Cemetery (see page 129, 166 and 168).
For this first edition of the Handbook, the editors have had to rely on their own surveys and investigations in determining these awards. For future editions, nominations from readers are invited.
Two men came with a cot - men I had never seen before. They didn't know me or my profession. My emotion didn't leave room for explanations, so I simply asked them to stand aside. It was my dad and I would do it. Hesitatingly they obliged, while I took the cover from the cot, positioned the cot and gathered Dad's limp body into my arms. It was my job. I was his son. It was our love.
I felt a sense of desertion as I watched those two strangers disappear down the hall with dad. Dad didn't know them.
One of my best friends, a funeral director from the next town, came to get Dad and did all the embalming work. I did the rest - the death certificate, the notification of newspapers, cemetery, minister, church, family, friends, neighbours, all the scores of details which accompany the task of being a funeral director.
My family did lots of other things: we tucked Dad in (it's rough but it's real) and closed the casket; we took him to church ourselves. My brother, sister and I carried Dad to his grave, we lowered him into his grave with straps and our own muscle power. We closed the vault and shovelled the dirt ourselves. We closed out his life ourselves.
Later, weeks later, I asked myself: how many sons, daughters, parents and spouses had I delayed the grief work for because I had performed all of the tasks for them, because I, as a functionary, had usurped their role as care-giving family members. How many times had I made decisions for a family without their opinion, because I had assumed 'they couldn't take it?' They have a right to be heard. The focus must be on their needs, reactions and prior experience. Immediately, my role in funeral service shifted to being that of a facilitator and it has remained there.
By Roy and Jane Nichols from 'Death - The Final Stage of Growth' edited by Elisabeth Kübler-Ross.
Alexandre Haas, a packaging manufacturer in Lausanne, Switzerland, has produced the Peace Box, a smart self-assembly cardboard coffin, costing about £45. It weighs 12 kilos, can carry 200 kilos, has a liquid-proof insert and resists temperatures from 250 degrees C to minus 180 degrees C. But it is above all kind to the environment, says Haas, 'and it is light, foldable, easily transported and can be slotted together in five minutes'. He is seeking UK distribution, preferably through a funeral director, and only wants to take orders for 1,000 or more - but could refer people wanting just one coffin to sales outlets elsewhere in Europe. (Alexandre Haas, Sondeur Diffusion, CH-1029 Villars-Ste-Croix, Switzerland, tel and fax 010 41 21 634 70 26.)
In the United States and in Canada it is possible to rent a decorous outer coffin for the funeral service, with only the cardboard inner coffin cremated (normally a thin piece of pine or plywood is placed under the deceased to keep the cardboard rigid). For instance, Joanna Moorhead in an interview in the Observer (April 14th '92), spoke with funeral director Kem Timlick who offers Western Rent-A-Casket Ltd, a 'cheap, no frills' service in Vancouver. His funerals cost about a tenth of the average. 'If you want to spend a lot of money remembering someone who's died, donate money to crippled children or heart-disease research.'
Alexandre Haas (above) has a 'patented ground mechanical opening system for a luxury over-coffin' (perhaps a variant of the idea on page 136) and M. G. von Bratt has written to the Natural Death Centre from New Zealand saying that he has patents for the UK, USA and other countries on a disposable cardboard coffin with a re-usable outer core:
The cardboard coffin costs $30 to produce in New Zealand in numbers of 25, plus $20 for the 16mm lightweight wooden base board. If these items were produced in quantity the prices would be considerably reduced - almost halved.
Cardboard coffins would be ideal for sea burials as there would be instant water absorption and no buoyancy.
M. G. von Bratt, 24 Claremont Terrace, Otumoetai, Tauranga, New Zealand.
Mr T. Fowler of Sullivan Engineering in Ebenezer, near Sydney in Australia, has told the Natural Death Centre of plans for a $3.5m plant to produce coffins made from recycled newspapers. They are hoping for a worldwide franchise operation and he has had 'overtures from England'. The coffins look very similar to wooden ones, and are very strong. As he told the Funeral Services Journal, 'I've put one on trestles and jumped up and down on it and it showed no signs of breaking.' (Mr T. Fowler, tel 010 61 45 751 252.)
But in the meantime, how does somebody in the UK go about buying a coffin, whether Green or otherwise? One way, if all else fails, is simply to ask a local carpenter. The Natural Death Centre tried a small-looking one at random out of our local Yellow Pages, Lignum Vitae of London NW10 (tel 081 965 8839), and they estimated that they could make a cheap one for about £100, but could only add handles, lining, etc, if they were supplied with them (or they could do rope handles).
The Natural Death Centre circulated a questionnaire to 2,800 funeral directors in September 1992, and, of the mere 45 (excluding branches of the same firm) who deigned to reply - presumably representing the crème de la crème a total of 29 were prepared to sell just a coffin, without other services, at prices ranging from £45 to £325 for the cheapest fully fitted coffin - with a resultant average price of £115. The 24 who were prepared to sell a coffin without other services and for less than £150 - 0.86% out of the 2,800 funeral directors or 53% of those who replied, depending on how you look at it - are listed regionally later in this chapter (one or two are also listed who are exceptional for other reasons). Probably the best value coffin is that supplied by the funeral director James Gibson of Bolton see North West region below), whose cheapest comes fully fitted with lining and handles for £45, plus a negotiable charge for delivery anywhere in the UK. One person living in the wilds of Scotland (whose need was not urgent) has complained to the Natural Death Centre about very slow processing of her order from James Gibson, so plan well ahead!
Mr Foreman of H. J. Bent & Co see London region below) was cagey about giving any prices on our questionnaire form, but when tackled by phone said that he would supply an unfitted chipboard container, which he felt was barely suitable for a funeral, from £30, with delivery charges negotiable.
We assumed that the funeral suppliers, the people who make the coffins and supply the funeral directors, would be the cheapest, but there was an almost universal refusal to supply the public. A typical comment on the telephone was that their trade depended on the 'big four' companies of funeral directors who do 90% of the funerals in this country and they weren't going to risk that trade by supplying one-offs. You may wish to try the Yellow Pages (under funeral suppliers) and to see if you have better luck with your local firms, perhaps even popping in to see them. You have a better chance of being served if you know in advance the exact width and length you want, are prepared to accept any form of lining or handles, can collect, and generally make it clear you will be offering minimum trouble, whilst keeping their name and the fact that they have supplied you confidential. When Jane Spottiswoode wanted a coffin for her husband, she got one by subterfuge, as related in the previous chapter, by pretending it was for a play. And there are two funeral suppliers who are prepared to take orders from individual members of the public if they come via the Natural Death Centre - although they charge more than James Gibson (see above) and Green Undertakings (see below). Henry Smith Ltd below under London region) is willing to supply a standard coffin only, fully fitted, at a rather pricey £94 incl. VAT to the general public; Vic Fearn Ltd see under East Midlands) offers fancy painted coffins from £500, a standard coffin, and one, as mentioned earlier, from recycled scrap pallets.
If you are trying to buy a coffin locally and none of the above leads are helping, it may be worth approaching your local pet funeral service (see under 'Pet services' in the Yellow Pages). They do not have the funeral directors to worry about and may be more amenable to the idea of supplying a human-sized coffin. For instance Pets Meadow see under Radlett, East Anglian region) can arrange to have an adult-size coffin delivered anywhere for £80 (they also do reasonably priced caskets for ashes).
However, winner of The Natural Death Handbook Award for the Most Helpful Funeral Suppliers is Green Undertakings of Leeds see North East region below) who are not a mainstream funeral supplier but who are willing to offer a flatpack coffin from £35 upwards in MDF, ply or veneer, with delivery extra. Their cheapest standard coffin costs £87, fitted with handles and delivered. Urgent orders can normally be processed and delivered within three to four days (weekends permitting). They also sell body bags (£15 delivered), handles from £6 for a set of three pairs, name plates from £5, lining material from 85p per metre, and lowering webbing for burials at £12 per 9yds (by 3") length.
Those readers who are so Green that they cannot accept the idea of motor vehicles being used to transport the body could try asking a local church or cemetery if they can lend or rent, with a suitable deposit, a wheel bier. For instance, Manchester Cemetery (see North West region below) do have such wheel biers - they hire them out for use within the grounds for £2-50. More feasible, more expensive and more dashing is to arrange for a horse-drawn hearse. Three firms which offer such vehicles, complete with Friesian horses, are T. Cribb & Sons (from £575 - see London region below), James Gibson (from £450 to £900 - see North West region below, although they can go nationwide) and Peter Taylor (from £500 - see East Anglian region below).
'Do you embalm the deceased as a matter of course or on request?' we asked the funeral directors in our questionnaire. Several firms replied 'Yes, we do embalm as a matter of course,' some adding the proviso 'unless asked not to' - so it is important to make your wishes clear in this regard. The majority claimed only to embalm on request, but often again with provisos such as: 'unless the body is to be exported or conveyed long distance' or 'unless the family wishes to view the body'. One firm wrote: 'We embalm when we consider it necessary for hygienic reasons and for viewing purposes. If there is a risk of infection we will insist on it for our own staff's sake.'
So in celebration of the few independent, cussed, beloved and legendary undertakers left, it seemed worth listening to the story of Tony Brown of Saxmundham. Burial of the Dead, after all, is listed as the last of the Seven Acts of Mercy in Christian belief, on a par with feeding the hungry and comforting distress. What men like him do, because of the way they do it, is as useful as any social work, but largely unacknowledged.
He was an ambulance driver who started 'moonlighting for a funeral director, digging graves at six in the morning before a shift'. He took over an undertaker's business in 1979. 'I did farmwork to keep going. I'd be ploughing and my wife would come and wave from the hedge and leave me her bike and I'd jump on it and go quick.'
But some refinements of the trade he rejected from the start. 'I don't embalm, not unless a body's going abroad. I don't touch the body any more than I need to. I don't do all that arranging of their hair and face-painting and that, and I don't sell people fancy shrouds because I do not class myself as a salesman.
'I do like singing. I sing good and loud. I've done "The Old Rugged Cross" three times this week.'
A funeral director who accepts, even revels in, the individuality of each corpse goes a long way to easing the misery. 'There was an old Romany horseman, the other week. We dressed him up in his black suit and neckerchief, like he always wore, and put his cap on him. And it was just him, old Tinker. You know, I felt like putting a fag in his mouth!
'Everyone ought to go the way they want. That's why I hate these pre-paid funerals and I hate taking money in advance. I'd rather people had insurance in the old way, then it can all be done as a family want. People are always having ideas and saying to me, "Tony, is that silly?" and I always say No. One woman wanted to go in her own Volvo Estate. We got her in. Why not? When I go, I'm going on a horse and cart.'
He is a Methodist, and is shocked by the fact that when people die without any relatives or friends to bury them, the social services merely stipulate that the body be disposed of correctly. 'There's nothing in law saying that anyone's got to say one single word. So I say the prayers. I've taken a whole cremation service. I'm not a preacher, and of course I don't charge anything for it. But you can't just put someone in a hole and walk away.'
Adapted extracts from an article by Libby Purves in Country Living, reprinted in Funeral Service Journal.
It is hard to find an independent undertaker - many of the big firms hide behind the name of the small firm they have taken over, and often it takes some persistence to find this out. But a bigger problem in choosing an undertaker is that in the first shock of a relative dying 97% of people, according to an Office of Fair Trading investigation, sign up with the first undertaker they contact. Arranging a funeral is not like buying any other consumer service, and people need to be aware that this could lay them open to exploitation, even if most undertakers in fact are well-meaning and dedicated people. Our advice is that you get a friend who is not so emotionally involved to phone around for you and to report back to you when an undertaker has been located who meets your criteria.
It is perhaps worth emphasising at this point that although The Natural Death Centre is campaigning for improvements in the funeral trade, and advocates that families organise funerals themselves wherever possible, it acknowledge that funerals in the UK are as cheap or cheaper than most countries in Europe; are cheap compared with what the average family is prepared to spend on a wedding; and are carried out in the main by sensitive professionals doing a difficult and stressful job which most people would not have the courage to do.
For those whose main consideration is price and who want a complete funeral organised for them, the cheapest seem to be offered by those for whom the funeral business is a sideline. For instance, T. Finn in Plymouth see South West region below) is about as unorthodox as you can get. He is a retired insurance agent and ex-Royal Marine. He gets his coffins from James Gibson (see above) and will sell these to local people, or will arrange a very basic funeral for those who don't want d-i-y. He will merely add 10% to the final total for his services. So with £76 for a coffin, £127 for the cremation fee, £57 for the medical fees, £50 for the estate car, the total with his percentage would come to about £340, plus about £77 for catering, coffin carrying, flowers etc, if desired. And at a simple £10 per hour rate he can also help with wills, probate, etc. Please let the Natural Death Centre know how you find his services if you use them, as the Centre relies on such information to monitor those it publicises. W. Parsons, a spokesman for the National Association of Funeral Directors, comments: 'Suffice it to say that Mr Finn and I have met and his knowledge of funerals and funeral procedures or paperwork was decidely limited. I would strongly recommend that any family interested in his scheme obtain a detailed estimate in writing before giving him the go-ahead.'
All members of the National Association of Funeral Directors are supposed to offer a basic funeral, but this needs asking for by name. In response to our questionnaire, several neglected or refused to fill in the questions asking prices, but for those who were willing to state them publicly, a basic funeral costs from £463 to £887, with an average of £668. (This includes our notional allowance of £213 for the extras, the so-called 'disbursements' paid out for the client by the undertaker: the cremation fee, doctors' fee and minister's fee). Rule 15 of the National Association of Funeral Directors' Code of Practice, states that even this basic funeral price should be reduced still further if certain services such as bearers are not required. In fact eight funeral directors told us that they would make no such reductions, and six of these eight claimed to be members of the Association.
Some of the cheapest funerals go by names that seem designed to put the customer off from asking for them. For instance, Rowland Brothers of Croydon see South region) offer what they term a 'disposal service' for £295 (crematorium and doctors' fees extra), which turns out to be a perfectly respectable funeral complete with hearse and coffin.
If you are genuinely hard-up, many undertakers are kind hearted enough to make allowances and will not turn you away. One of our contacts offered an undertaker £400 cash on the spot (the most he could afford) for a £795 funeral and was accepted. The highly commendable and distinctive Islamic funeral service offered by Haji Taslim see London region below), based at the East London Mosque and aimed primarily at the Muslim community, offers free burial to the indigent, besides being prepared to give cheap or free help of various kinds to those planning their own funeral.
It is also worth phoning your local council's cemeteries department, who might be well informed (eg for Brent, this would mean looking under 'B' for Brent and then under 'Cemeteries' within the list of Brent's services) and asking if the council has made a special agreement to provide cheaper basic funerals for residents (note that the requirement is normally that the deceased should have lived in the borough, not the person organising the funeral, but check this). In London the Co-op Funeral Service has for several years provided a not-so-cheap basic funeral for certain boroughs: the CWS Co-op does one for residents of Southwark, Lewisham, Lambeth and Camden (tel 081 317 7317 for details; or the local council); the CRS Co-op for residents of Islington (tel 071 607 2828), Hounslow (tel 081 570 4741) and Haringey (tel 081 808 3837) - or try the local councils for details of these too. The cost excluding disbursements for the CRS funerals is about £400, for the CWS ones from £460 (Lambeth) to £570 (Lewisham). In Wigan see North West region below) the borough council uses the services of two local funeral directors to offer cremation for £465 and burial for £469 (both all-inclusive prices), which is as cheap as any we found offered privately nationwide. A similar slightly more expensive service is offered by the St Helens and Bolton council (see North West region, under Bolton).
There is scope for religious and neighbourhood groups of one sort or another in the UK to help each other with the funeral arrangements, just as within some Jewish communities it is considered an honour to be of service to the deceased in this way. Neighbours could help each other with advice, with transport, by providing bearers, by helping with the making of coffins or even by buying a plot of land for a wildlife cemetery (besides of course helping before death with caring for the dying at home, and after the funeral with reintegrating the bereaved into the life of the neighbourhood). In the United States, communities in many local areas over the last fifty years have formed their own Memorial Societies (some 150 to date) which use the power of their membership numbers to make agreements with particular undertakers for cheaper than normal services (society members tend to pay less than a fifth the average cost of an American funeral). A lifetime fee of some $25 is charged, many of the staff are volunteers, and some of the societies offer workshops and meetings and informative leaflets and advice. People who join fill in a pre-arrangement form indicating their detailed funeral preferences. Anyone contemplating forming a similar society in the UK - a project which The Natural Death Centre would be happy to help publicise - will find useful their $10 handbook for Funeral and Memorial Societies; this is available from the Continental Association, 6900 Lost Lake Road, Egg Harbor, WI 54209-9231, USA (tel 0101 414 868 3136).
Free funerals are available (on claims made before or within three months of the funeral, on Social Security office form SF200), if the relative organising the funeral is on Income Support or Family Credit or Housing Benefit, although that person's money over £500 (£1,000 if sixty or over) will be used towards the costs, and any money in the estate of the deceased will go towards the costs. So in a family of relative poverty it is worth ensuring that the relative who requests the funeral is the poorest one who falls into one of the three above categories. Social Security (see leaflet FB29, a guide to benefits when someone dies) also gives out a Widow's Payment of £1,000 if the husband paid enough National Insurance contributions and was not getting retirement pension, and if the widow is under sixty.
The local authority is obliged (under the Public Health - Control of Disease - Act 1984 Part III Disposal of Dead Bodies Section 46) to organise disposal of a body when no relative is willing to do so. A. C. T. Connolly (of 26 Broadfields Avenue, Winchmore Hill, London N21 1AD) decided to test this Act by refusing to arrange for the disposal of a relative's body (which was in the coroner's mortuary at the local hospital). He resisted ('wrongful') pressure from the registrar of deaths to take various forms before he would register the death. Finally a helpful official in the council's Social Services department agreed to arrange the funeral and to register the death in the name of the council, with the Connolly family reimbursing the council for the £315 cost. The family was notified in advance of the time for the service and the commital at the crematorium. Mr Connolly concludes: 'It is a legally imposed duty on local authorities to carry out this public health function no matter what the financial position of the bereaved might be. Yet very few people indeed know of this local authority option.'
Ernest Morgan quotes a poetic statement by Robert Test in favour of organ donation:
When that happens, do not attempt to install artificial life into my body by the use of a machine and don't call this my deathbed. Let it be called the Bed of Life, and let my body be taken from it to help others lead fuller lives.
Give my sight to the man who has never seen a sunrise, a baby's face or love in the eyes of a woman. Give my heart to the person whose own heart has caused nothing but endless days of pain. Give my blood to the teenager who was pulled from the wreckage of his car, so that he may live to see his grandchildren play. Give my kidneys to a person who depends upon a machine to exist from week to week. Take my bones, every muscle, every fibre and nerve in my body and find a way to make a crippled child walk. Explore every corner of my brain. Take my cells, if necessary, and let them grow so that, someday, a speechless boy will shout at the crack of a bat or a deaf girl will hear the sound of rain against her window.
Burn what is left of me and scatter the ashes to the winds to help the flowers grow.
If you must bury something, let it be my faults, my weaknesses and all my prejudice against my fellow man. Give my sins to the devil. Give my soul to God.
If, by chance, you wish to remember me, do it with a kind deed or word to someone who needs you. If you do all I have asked, I will live forever.
'Dealing Creatively with Death' by Ernest Morgan.
If you feel the same way as Ernest Morgan and Robert Test, you need to persuade your next of kin (who will have charge of your body after death), to tell your doctor and your hospital ward and to get a donor card from your local health centre, doctor or chemist. Animal Aid (7 Castle St, Tonbridge, Kent TN9 1BH, tel0732 364 546) issues a Humane Research Donor Card which requests that the body be used for medical and scientific research. A card for donating eyes and other organs is also available from the Royal National Institute for the Blind, 224 Great Portland Street, London W1N 6AA (tel 071 388 1266); and a DHSS-printed all-organ donor card can be got from the British Heart Foundation, Distribution Dept, 14 Fitzhardinge St, London W1H 4DH (tel 071 935 0185). The cornea of the eyes is the only part that can wait up to 12 hours for removal; the rest have to be removed within half an hour of death.
It is not possible to guarantee a free disposal of your body by leaving it for dissection by medical students. Only a percentage is accepted. Medical schools generally accept only bodies that are unautopsied after death, non-cancerous, relatively whole and within easy range of the school. Dr David Delvin wrongly claimed in the Independent recently that the bodies of paupers are still sometimes used for dissection purposes - although this is a fear that has haunted the poor ever since the 1832 Anatomy Act (as described by Ruth Richardson in her book 'Death, Dissection and the Destitute' published by Pelican, 1989). To offer to donate your body, contact the professor of anatomy at your local medical hospital or HM Inspector of Anatomy, Department of Health, Wellington House, 133-155 Waterloo Road, London SE1 8UG (tel 071 972 4342); or for those in the London area, contact the London Anatomy Office, all hours, on 071 387 7850 or 071 741 2198.
It has been estimated that the pre-paid funeral market could become as big a business in the UK as in the United States, where about three quarters of all funerals are paid for before death. The advantages claimed include that: people planning in advance tend to choose simple funerals; it allows for leisurely comparison shopping; in some of the plans you are protected against inflationary price rises; relatives do not suddenly face a big bill at a time of stress; it provides peace of mind for those elderly with no relatives; and it would reduce your capital and thus perhaps entitle you to social security benefits you might not otherwise have received.
In our view, the advantages of some of the schemes could be outweighed by the potential disadvantages: pre-paid funerals militate against family participation - what if your family decide that they want to make your coffin or to look after your funeral arrangements? Many of the schemes tend to favour the big chains with their assembly-line funerals and to drive the smaller firms to the wall. They encourage TV advertising and other heavy marketing ploys. And there is at least one horror story in the United States where the money was simply pocketed, and the pre-paid cremation bodies were stacked in the basement of the mortuary, with others buried in mass graves.
A first step is to consider questions such as: what happens if you do not need a funeral in the UK after all, for instance if you die abroad or if your ship sinks at sea? What happens if you die before completing payments? What happens if you need that capital sum in an emergency? Would you not have done better to put the money into a form of investment that you could recover? What happens if the trust or foundation backing your pre-paid scheme goes bust? What if whoever attends your dying is not aware of your pre-paid arrangement? If you want such an arrangement, would it not be more interesting to discuss your funeral wishes with your most trusted next-of-kin and to pay money into an account or investment controlled jointly by them? Or, probably a less financially attractive option, to put regular premiums into a funeral insurance scheme (or to top up your life insurance) which would pay a lump sum to your relatives on your death, leaving your relatives with more freedom of action? Sun Alliance tel 0800 27 21 27), for instance, offers a funeral insurance scheme whereby a 70 year old male, whatever his state of health, pays £17 a month for life, and during the first two years this money is paid back on death plus half as much again; thereafter it pays out £1635 on death. The Independent Order of Odd Fellows tel 061 832 9361) offers a whole life insurance, without medical examination, for people aged 50 to 85, whereby a 70 year old can pay £100 per annum with a guaranteed £884 paid out at death. Other such firms with their own schemes include Ambassador Life (tel 0800 262422), CIS (tel 041 332 6531), the Ideal Benefit Society (tel 021 449 4101) and the Tunbridge Wells Friendly Society (tel 0892 515353). An interesting variant is Rest Assured of Funeral Payment Cover Ltd (tel 0785 40000 to find out participating funeral directors in your area) where a 70 year old, after three medical questions, could pay £114 per annum for ten years for a guaranteed funeral costing £750 at today's prices and booked in advance with a particular undertaker, with the deceased's estate getting any surplus bonus if there is one. Also offered is the Omega plan, designed in part for those who are terminally ill.
Nevertheless, if your circumstances are such that one of the more high profile pre-paid plans seems desirable, try to find a scheme which, as well as satisfactorily answering the above questions, is mainly for small independent firms; places at least 90% of the pre-paid funds in trust; will not add extras when the time comes; allows a wide range of choice if you move to another part of the country; allows for no-questions-asked cancellation with refund of money and interest (less any small administration fees); and returns any unspent money and interest after the funeral. You will not be able to find such a scheme as yet in the UK (although the last two points are required by law in some American states).
Possibly least objectionable at present is the Golden Charter, since it is specifically designed for the small, independent funeral directors and their association SAIF, the Society of Allied and Independent Funeral Directors (a splinter group within the NAFD). Indeed the 'Which?' recommended Best Buy in February 1992 for those wanting a simple funeral was the Golden Charter Standard (tel 0800 833800) at £775 including all cremation funeral costs (to which additional paid-for elements can be added).
The next best is probably the Perfect Assurance Funeral Trust run by the National Association of Funeral Directors (NAFD - for details of your local participants, tel 021 709 0019), which offers no standard plans but allows you to choose any firm, small or large, that offers the scheme and to tailor-make a plan to your requirements. The firm then pays the money into the presumed safety of the Perfect Assurance trust fund.
The market leader and the first to advertise on TV has been Chosen Heritage tel 0800 525555), whose cheapest Simplicity Plan funeral costs £750 (disbursements included). If the person dies abroad or ends up not needing their funeral, relatives are refunded. 100% of the funds is claimed to go into the trust fund. Chosen Heritage allows cancellations at any time, minus interest and a £55 fee. There are no extras. It does have a 'personal choice' option for those wanting a non-standard package. The snag is that 146 of its (claimed) 500 funeral directors are part of the Great Southern Group, and such huge chains are in our view to be discouraged.
There is an enormous gulf between Chosen Heritage's price and the cheapest plan offered by the Co-op's CRS division (Lyn Buckley, tel 0244 341135), whose Caring Covenant Funeral Plan costs £815 with no disbursements paid (so probably leading to a final bill of well over £1,000); in addition cancellations are allowed only at their discretion, subject to loss of interest and a fee of about 5%.
The Co-op's CWS division (tel 0800 289120) offers the Co-operative Funeral Bond where the Earl cremation plan (including disbursements) costs £839. One unusual feature of this plan is that it allows two people to be named on the form and the plan can eventually pay for either of them.
The scheme Dignity in Destiny tel 0800 269318) is almost completely tied to the big chain Plantsbrook, using independent funeral directors only in those places where it has no coverage itself. Its equivalent cheapest funeral costs £850. It only allows cancellations at its discretion and charges a £50 fee. Less than 100% of the funds goes to the trust fund - a variable amount is paid in, whatever Price Waterhouse advises, but 'Yes, less than 90%.'
Perhaps the ideal crematorium would be a building designed to allow the mourners to gather round a high tech version of a funeral pyre. Tony Walter in 'Funerals and How to Improve Them' has suggested a number of slightly less radical design improvements: a coffin visible and central and near floor level throughout the service, which can be touched, kissed, circled round or filed past; a building in which the coffin can be moved by the mourners, possibly by being lowered down under the floor; and a building as beautiful and significant as a church, so that the local community will want it for births and marriages too, which is close to the elements - surrounded by forest and wildlife, rather than manicured lawns and regimented rows of rosebushes.
A wonderful sounding new crematorium is being planned with the above design suggestions in mind by Deborah Hinton, for woodland that she owns near Basingstoke (see Southern region below). A £1.5m investment is planned and it should open in 1994. Hinton is also determined that the crematorium should be welcoming to all, whether using undertakers or not, and irrespective of the body container used.
Of the 52 respondents to our survey of crematoria nationwide, only 21% claimed anything more unusual in the way of grounds than 'formal gardens'. 92% would allow a few mourners to witness the coffin entering the cremator, often with the proviso that this should be 'by prior arrangement' (in Newcastle-under-Lyme Crematorium up to 60 people can watch). 60% would allow the mourners to move the coffin to the cremator. And one - Stockport Crematorium - see North West region below - would even permit one mourner to 'charge' the coffin into the cremator. 12% had the more participatory 'half-moon' seating, rather than 'audience facing the front' style - or were prepared to allow seating to be moved to achieve this effect.
Another off-putting aspect of crematoria is the factory conveyor belt sense of: In - 30 minutes - Out - Next. Some crematoria, again highlighted in our regional listings below, are good at providing either extra long services (Brighton crematorium, for instance, allows 45 minutes, see South region) or cheaper additional sessions (Brighton can give extra time free if available).
Contrary to myth, crematoria do burn all the coffins (which is a pity, we feel that they should be re-used), and the ashes you get back will be the right ones.
Most crematoria are run by local authorities and have very reasonable fees (although these fees are having to be increased in many places so as to finance the cost of new facilities that will meet stringent EC anti-pollution requirements. This will cost the average crematorium at least half a million pounds and as a result some of the local authority ones are begining to sell out to the larger private firms). At present the cheapest one that met our other criteria for inclusion was Putney Vale Crematorium (£83 for 20 minutes - see London region below). The most expensive was Weymouth Crematorium (at £178 for 30 minutes - see South West region below).
Our questionnaire was circulated to all 226 or so crematoria in the country. Our main interest lay in finding out how helpful they were to people organising a funeral without using an undertaker. Of the 52 who replied, a very stuffy four (ie eight% of those who bothered to reply) said that they would deal only with undertakers, not with the family direct. An equally terrible ten (ie 19%) said they would not accept a home-made coffin even if it met all the anti-pollution requirements and if everything were done 'in a dignified manner without disturbance to other mourners or to staff'. These have been excluded from our selective listings below. Only eight crematoria (ie 15%) were prepared to go much further and to accept not only a home-made coffin but also our suggestion of a 'rigid container as long as it is draped with a cloth'. or 'an alternative container, ie a heavy carboard box supported on a piece of pine or plywood and covered with a drape.' These are detailed in the listings. But only three (ie 6%) - Mid-Warwickshire Crematorium (see Leamington Spa, East Midlands region), Carlisle Crematorium (see North West region) and Worthing Crematorium (see South region) - were willing to take simply a 'body bag suitable for cremation, again supported on a piece of pine or plywood and covered with a drape'.
The following is the full set of questions and answers given by Mr D. H. Thompson, the manager of the Mid-Warwickshire Crematorium address under East Midlands region, below) winner of the Natural Death Handbook award for the Most Helpful Crematorium. You can use these questions to select the ones which are relevant to your own situation when approaching your local crematoria, and so that you can evaluate the extent to which your local findings match the high standards set by our winner:
What is your parent organisation if any? Warwick District Council.
How much time is allotted for each funeral service? 30 minutes.
Can extra time be paid for? Yes.
If so, at what cost per minute? £16 per 30 minutes.
What are your minimum charges for a simple service and cremation? £95 (resident), £118-75 (non-resident).
How much does a casket for cremated remains cost? £7 (wooden), polytainer free.
What is your estimated delivery charge for cremated remains in the UK:
- by next day courier delivery? £19.
What is your storage charge for cremated remains? None.
Can payments be on account? Yes, in 30 days.
Provided the paperwork is correctly done, and any pacemaker has been removed, will you accept a body directly from the family (no funeral director)? Yes
Is a home made coffin acceptable? Yes.
Is a rigid container acceptable, as long as it is draped with a cloth? Yes.
Is a heavy cardboard box supported on a piece of pine or plywood and covered with a drape acceptable? Yes.
Is a body bag suitable for cremation acceptable, supported on a piece of wood and covered with a drape? Yes.
Can the seating be in the round or horse-shoe shaped? Our seating is half-moon in shape.
Can the seating be rearranged? No.
Can the coffin be easily seen by all the mourners throughout the service? Yes.
Does the set-up allow for some mourners to gather around the coffin in a circle at a point in the service? Yes.
Is the coffin close to floor level during the service (ie can mourners easily see into the coffin or touch the coffin if they so wish)? No.
Can mourners easily file closely past the coffin as they enter or exit, if they so wish? As they exit they can file past.
Does the coffin go directly to the cremator after the service? Yes, but if all three cremators are in use it would have to wait, but normally we have one available if notified in advance that immediate cremation is required.
Can mourners view the coffin entering the cremator? Yes.
If they so wish, can a few mourners help move the coffin to the cremator at the end of the service? Yes - but not into it. They damaged the cremator last time!
How would you describe the immediate surroundings of the crematorium? Informal woodland.
How would you describe the architecture and feel of the crematorium building and interior? Modern.
In what ways do you feel that your crematorium excels, either in terms of its services, prices, attitudes, practices, architecture or surroundings? Our crematorium must be one of the most flexible and helpful crematoria in the UK. The atmosphere is extremely peaceful and the woodland is home to many forms of wildlife. We do not have memorials and there is no 'commercialism'.
Does your cemetery have chapel facilities? Yes.
How long is allotted for each funeral service? There is no time limit.
How much does a plot cost? £159.
How long do grave rights last? 50 years.
Simple service and burial? &163;130 (£142-50 for non-residents)
Maintenance of plot? There is no charge for this.
How is payment made (in advance, on account in X days, by credit card, etc)? In advance.
Provided the paperwork is correctly done, will you accept a body directly from the family? Yes.
Which of the following types of body container are acceptable?
Home-made coffin? Yes, if made of natural materials.
Body bag or shroud? Yes, if made of natural materials.
Body bag with rigid support? Yes.
Heavy cardboard box supported on pine or ply? Yes.
Other (please specify)? Basket (wicker), etc.
Can chapel seating be rearranged, eg into a circle or horseshoe? No.
Can the coffin be seen by mourners during the service? Yes.
If they so wish, can mourners help move the coffin towards its final resting place? Yes.
Is a memorial allowed, optional or mandatory? Allowed and optional.
What requirements do you have for a memorial? Any choice of vase or headstone, etc, up to 3' high and 3' 6" wide.
What are the surroundings like? It is a very large formal cemetery, Victorian in appearance and very attractive with parkland trees and fine memorials. Wildlife includes occasional deer, red squirrels, etc. Herons nest annually.
What is the architecture of the chapel? Churchlike, Victorian Gothic.
What does your cemetery offer to help make each service as individual as possible? Open communication channels, few restrictions and ample time.
How do you feel that your cemetery excels, either in terms of its service, prices, attitudes, practices, architecture or surroundings? All Carlisle cemeteries are considered well maintained and spiritually uplifting. Our management attitude is flexible and orientated to satisfying people using our services, not placing restrictions in their way.
Contrast this approach with the Southern Cemetery in Manchester which has a rule booklet of 56 pages. Articles it prohibits on graves include wooden crosses ('except those supplied by the city council'), sea shells, rockery and other stones. Those bringing the coffin to the cemetery in other than a funeral director's hearse must transfer it at the entrance gate to a wheeled bier. Not unreasonably, it also wants to be notified if the coffin size will exceed 6' 4" by 22" width, 15" depth (the width measurement must allow for any protruding handles. 'It is difficult and may be dangerous to alter the width of the grave once it has been excavated'). There are occasional stories in the various funeral journals of the embarrassment felt by funeral directors and priests when the coffin will not fit the grave.
Another strong runner-up to Carlisle Cemetery for our award is the Mold Cemetery in Clywd (see Wales region). Not only is it the cheapest (£90 includes the plot, the digging, the burial and the minister) but it also sounds one of the friendliest. Tony Davies writes: 'We live within the cemetery confines and people are able to discuss their grief at any time of the day and night. We have lived here for 16 years. We listen to people and have real feeling and empathy for them. It can be easier for people to talk to a stranger and express their feelings more fully than they would to their own families. We find once the inital grief is overcome we become firm friends. Death is a natural thing which causes grief to everyone concerned. It is terrible to see people suffering grief but it is such a wonderful thing to see life once again taking over and smiles and laughter returning.'
Just as house prices vary by region, so too do the rights to a burial plot - from £85 at Mold Cemetery to £2,200 at Highgate Cemetery (see London region). The average plot price nationwide (for those who met our home-made coffin criteria) was £291 (for an average of 72 years). However the price within a cemetery could vary widely too: Southern Cemetery in Manchester's cheapest plot was £190, its most expensive £2,315. Some also charge non-residents either extra or double the price; or, in the case of East Sheen and its associated cemeteries, three times the price.
Remember to insist, if buying burial rights, that ownership is put in the name of the surviving partner, to ensure their eventual right to be buried together.
As well as the plot, there is also the cost of digging the grave and the burial. The range here was from £5, again at Mold Cemetery, to £510 at Highgate Cemetery, with an average of £183. Maintenance was normally either not charged or optional, with prices ranging from £15 per annum to £82 per annum at Woking Cemetery. Woking (see South region) is, incidentally, another example of a cemetery with a pleasantly liberal and enlightened approach to memorials, with virtually any design accepted.
- Bolton: Gibsons Funeral Service, 342 St Helens Road, Bolton, Lancs (tel 0204 655869). Cheapest fully-fitted coffin only: £45 (delivery locally £10, nationally negotiable). Cold storage only: yes, £10 per day. Body transport only: yes, no charge stated. Advice for d-i-y: yes, £10 per hour. Basic funeral: £360. Pre-paid plan: none. Full horse-drawn funerals on request, from £450 to £850. Joint winner of The Natural Death Handbook Award for the Most Helpful Funeral Director.
- Bolton: The St Helens and Bolton council (tel 0744 24061 and ask for reception) have an agreement with the Co-op for a basic funeral service for residents costing £492 (incl. of burial) or £486 (incl. of cremation). It can be booked through the Co-op in St Helens (tel 0744 23675) or through the Co-op in Newton-le-Willows (tel 0925 226257).
- Carlisle Cemetery, Richardson Street, Carlisle CA2 6AL (tel 0228 25022). Plot (50 years): £159. Digging, burying and use of chapel: £130. Maintenance not charged. Victorian Gothic church-like chapel. Time for service: no limit. Also would accept: shroud, body bag, body bag with rigid support, heavy cardboard box and baskets (wicker). Grounds: parkland trees, wildlife - deer, red squirrels, heron's nest. Winner of The Natural Death Handbook Most Helpful Cemetery Award (see further details above). Also administers Stanwix Cemetery, 110 Kingstown Road, Stanwix, Carlisle CA3 OAT and Upperby Cemetery, 15 Manor Road, Upperby, Carlisle CA2 4LH.
- Carlisle Crematorium, Richardson St, Carlisle CA2 6AL (tel 0228 25022). Price: £146. Time allotted: 40 mins, extra time free. Also would accept rigid containers as long as draped with a cloth; and 'alternative' containers, eg a cardboard box, if supported on pine or plywood and draped in a cloth; and body bag suitable for cremation, again supported as above. Grounds: 12 monthly gardens, themed to seasons, outer native wood screen.
- Crewe Crematorium, Market Street, Crewe CW1 2NA (tel 0270 212643). Price: £92. Time allotted: 20 mins, extra time £1 per minute. Situated in cemetery grounds.
- Lytham St. Annes, Park Cemetery, Regent Avenue, Lytham St. Annes FY8 4AB (tel 0253 735429). Plot (100 years): £167. Digging, burial and use of chapel: £100. Maintenance £31-50 per annum, with plants. 1960s chapel. Time for service: 30 mins. Grounds: formal. Memorials: natural stone up to 3ft tall.
- Lytham St. Annes: Park Crematorium, Regent Avenue, Lytham St. Annes FY8 4AB (tel 0253 735429). Price: £115, Time allotted: 30 mins, extra time free if booked in advance. Situated within cemetery grounds.
- Manchester: Southern Cemetery, Barlow Moor Road, Chorlton, Manchester M21 2GL (tel 061 881 2208). Plot (50 years): from £190 to £2,315 (from £365 non-residents). Digging, burial and use of chapel: £300 (£425 non-residents). Lawn cemetery with no charge for maintenance. Church-like chapel. Time for service: 20 mins. Also accept (for Muslims): shroud, body bag, body bag with rigid support. Grounds: wooded.
-Manchester: . Wellens and Sons Ltd, 121 Long St, Middleton, Manchester M24 3DW (tel 061 643 2677). Cheapest fully-fitted coffin only: £100 (delivery locally 'probably free'). Cold storage only: yes, £3 per day. Body transport only: yes, £75. Advice for d-i-y: yes, £30-£50 per hour. Basic funeral: £490. 'We will reduce our fees to help needy families.' Pre-paid plan: our own.
- Penrith Cemetery, Beacon Edge, Penrith, CA11 7RZ (tel 0768 62152). Plot (100 years): £125 residents (£250 non-residents). Burial and use of chapel: from £28. Maintenance not charged. Chapel is church-like, late Victorian and sandstone. Time for service: 30 mins. Grounds: formal lawns etc. Also administers Appleby, Alston, Nenthead & Garrigill Cemeteries.
- Preston Cemetery, New Hall Lane, Preston (tel 0772 794585). Lawn cemetery plot (75 years): £290. Digging and burial: £168. Both fees doubled for non-residents. Time for service: unlimited. Grounds: wooded and Victorian in the old cemetery, bleakly formal grid in the new. Memorials of almost any kind allowed, except wooden crosses.
- Preston Crematorium, Newhall Lane, Preston PR1 4SY (tel 0772 792391). Price: £105. Time allotted: 30 mins, extra time free of charge if available and booked. Also would accept 'alternative' containers, eg a cardboard box, if supported on pine or plywood and draped in a cloth. Grounds: open parkland at front, woodlands at rear.
- Preston: United Co-op Ltd funeral department, 550 Blackpool Road, Preston PR2 1HY (tel 0772 729057). Cheapest fully-fitted coffin only: £120 (delivery locally free). Cold storage only: yes, £10 per day. Body transport only: yes, £40 (£80 hearse). Advice for d-i-y: yes, £20 per hour. Basic funeral: £560. Pre-paid plan: Co-op Funeral Bonds. Parent company: United Norwest Co-operatives. Branches in Southport (tel 0704 213530) and Chorley (tel 0257 266316).
- Stockport Crematorium, 31a Buxton Road, Heaviley, Stockport SK2 6LS (tel 061 480 5221). Price: £111-30, £130 after 4 pm. Time allotted: 30 mins, extra time £47 per 30 mins. Grounds: walled gardens, formal lawns, rockeries, within cemetery.
- Wigan Cemetery, Cemetery Road, Lower Ince, Wigan (tel 0942 866455). No plots left, but they also manage eight other cemeteries, some with 99.9 year plots from £106 to £160. Digging and burial: £132-50. No maintenance charge. Grounds: lawns.
- Wigan Crematorium, Cemetery Road, Lower Ince, Wigan (tel 0942 866455 or 828507). Price: £120. Time allotted: 30 mins, extra time free. Grounds: surrounded by burial plots.
- Wigan Municipal Funeral Service, organised by Registrar of Cemeteries and Crematorium, Trencherfield Mill, Wallgate, Wigan WN3 4EF (tel 0942 828507). Basic funeral if deceased a resident, including cremation, doctors' fees and minister's fee: £465 (burial £469). The service is booked through either of two undertakers: Banks & Son (Pemberton, Wigan, tel 0942 222156) or Abbey Funeral Service (Tyldesley, Manchester, tel 0942 891331).
- Dewsbury: George Brooke Ltd funeral directors, 27 Bradford Road, Dewsbury (tel 0924 454476). Cheapest fully-fitted coffin only: £195 (delivery locally £25, nationally 65p per mile). This £195 price would normally exclude the firm from this Handbook, but it is redeemed by its estimable fully-itemised price list. Cold storage only: yes, £7-50 per day. Body transport only: yes, £25. Advice for d-i-y: yes. Basic funeral: £350. Pre-paid plan: 'our own, with a building society.'
- Durham Crematorium, South Road, Durham DH1 3TQ (tel 091 384 8677). Price: £88-80 (non-residents £121). Time allotted: 30 mins, extra time £20 for half hour max. Grounds: open parkland.
- Grimsby: Kettle Ltd funeral directors, 135 Granville St, Grimsby (tel 0472 355395 and 0507 600710). Cheapest fully-fitted coffin only: £90 (delivery locally £27-50, nationally 42p per mile over 15 miles). Cold storage only: yes, price undecided. Body transport only: yes, from £33. Advice for d-i-y: yes, fee undecided. Basic funeral: £338. Pre-paid plan: Chosen Heritage. 'Independent family business. We have supplied coffins to families for their own use.' Branch in Louth.
- Harrogate: . Bowers funeral director, Birstwith Road, Hampsthwaite, Harrogate HG3 2EU (tel 0423 770258). Cheapest fully-fitted coffin only: £135 (delivery £45 locally, nationally by mileage). Cold storage only: yes, £10 per day. Body transport only: yes, £25. Advice for d-i-y: yes, £10 per hour. Basic funeral: £670 (incl. fees to crematorium, doctors and clergy). Pre-paid plans: Chosen Heritage and Golden Charter. Member of SAIF. Excellent bereavement booklet and unusually comprehensive help and advice to the bereaved.
-Leeds: coffins and funeral supplies from Green Undertakings, orders through 79a Gloucester Road, Bristol BS7 8AS (tel c/o Bristol 0272 246248; fax 0272 248065; can be slow; if problems and urgent try also via Natural Death Centre 081 208 2853). Flatpack coffins from £35; fitted coffin £95; body bag £15; handles £6 for 6, name plate £5 also coffin lining material and lowering webbing for burials. Winner of The Natural Death Handbook Award for the Most Helpful Funeral Suppliers (see above under Coffin Makers).
- Leeds: Lawns Wood Crematorium. Otley Road, Adel, Leeds LS16 6AH (tel 0904 673188). Price: £130. Time allotted: 30 mins, extra time £130. Grounds: formal gardens.
- Middlesborough: Teesside Crematorium, Middlesborough Borough Council, Public Protection Dept, Vancouver House, PO Box 68, Central Mews, Gurney St, Middlesborough TS1 1QS (tel 0642 245432 ext. 4227). Price: £145. Time allotted: 30 mins, extra time free in special cases. Grounds: landscaped grounds, trees, shrubs, formal gardens.
- Stamford: . J. Scholes funeral directors, 18 Empingham Road, Stamford, Lincolnshire PE9 2RH (tel 0780 63092). Cheapest fully-fitted coffin only: £145 (delivery prices by negotiation). Cold storage only: yes, price negotiable. Body transport only: yes, price negotiable. Advice for d-i-y: yes, price negotiable. Basic funeral: £481. '5th generation family owner/operator.'
- York Cemetery, The Gatehouse, Cemetery Road, York YO1 5AJ (tel 0904 610578 day, 0904 640949 evening). 'We will take any body container from body bag to home-made coffin, as long as it is all done with dignity.' Plot (99 years): £160 lawn, Victorian section £200. Interment fee £45, plus they can supply the details of three self-employed grave diggers who charge between £70 and £110 for their services. Maintenance: £10 to £25 per annum. Grade IIA listed classical chapel, prize-winning decoration, warm feel. Time for service: up to one and a half hours if needed. Grounds: formal, wild, wooded. Ecological management plan to encourage wildlife. Memorials should be large and Victorian in style.
- York: City of York Crematorium, Bishopthorpe Road, Middlethorpe, York YO2 1QD (tel 0904 706096). Price: £123. Time allotted: 30 mins, extra time free by prior arrangement. Grounds: 'plenty of trees, nothing too formal.'
- Aberdare: Llwydcoed Crematorium, Aberdare, Mid-Glamorgan CF44, ODJ (tel 0685 874115). Price: £94. Time allotted: 25 mins, extra time free in exceptional circumstances. Grounds: formal gardens, ornamental pools, trees.
- Mold Public Cemetery, Alexandra Road, Mold, Clwyd CH7 1HJ (tel 0352 753820). Plot incl. burial and minister's fee: £90. Plots cannot be purchased in advance. No chapel. Grounds: town cemetery with flower borders and trees, surrounded by football field and playing ground. Memorials: to be made of stone with reverent wording. Friendly management (see earlier in this chapter). 'Family mourners often lower the coffin.'
- Dudley: Gornal Wood Crematorium, Chase Road, Gornal Wood, Dudley DY3 2RL (tel 0384 252665). Price: £134. Time allotted: 20 mins, extra time £25 per 30 mins. Grounds: formal gardens.
- Dudley: . Freeman & Son funeral director, 95 St Peter's Road, Netherton, Dudley DY2 9HN (tel 0384 252943). Cheapest fully-fitted coffin only: £80 (no delivery except as part of basic funeral). Cold storage only: no. Body transport only: no. Advice for d-i-y: yes, £10 per hour. Basic funeral: £300. Pre-paid plan: clients' account at bank. 'As a reader in the Church of England, I could and frequently do conduct the funeral service myself.'
- Newcastle-under-Lyme Crematorium, Chatterly Close, Bradwell, Newcastle ST5 8LE (tel 0782 635498). Price: £110. Any container that meets Federation of British Cremation Authority regulations. Can accommodate up to 60 people to watch coffin entering the cremator. A family member may push the burner ignite button. Time allotted: 30 mins, extra time free if booked in advance. Grounds: formal gardens, seasonal monthly gardens.
- Redditch Crematorium, Bordesley Lane, Redditch B97 6RR (tel 0527 62174). Price: £115 up to 9.30 am and £150 after 10.00 am. Time allotted: as requested, extra time charged at discretionary rate. Would also accept a rigid container; or 'alternative' containers, eg a cardboard box, if supported on pine or plywood and draped in a cloth. Grounds: informal gardens set in rolling countryside.
- Shrewsbury Crematorium, Emstrey, Shrewsbury (tel 0743 356974/359833). Price: £97.50. Time allotted: 40 mins, no extra time allowed. Prepared to discuss other body containers with family. Grounds: formal gardens, wooded backdrop.
- Stourbridge Crematorium, South Road, Stourbridge DY8 3RQ (tel 0384 372403). Price: £134. Time allotted: 20 mins, extra time £25 per 30 mins. Grounds: formal, within cemetery grounds.
- Worcester Crematorium, Astwood Cemetery, Astwood Road, Worcester WR3 8HA (tel 0905 22632). Price: £130. Time allotted: 30 mins, no extra time allowed. Grounds: semi-formal, within large cemetery, many large trees.
- Amersham: Chilterns Crematorium, Whielden Lane, Amersham HP7 OND (tel 0494 724263). Price £120. Time allotted: 30 mins, no extra time possible. Grounds: woodlands, lawns, roses. 'We like to think we are fairly flexible.'
- Chesterfield District Joint Crematorium, Chesterfield Road, Brimington, Chesterfield (tel 0246 234346). Price £103. Time allotted: 30 mins, extra time £14-40. Grounds: formal gardens.
- High Wycombe: . Smith Ltd, 7 The Green, Woburn Green, High Wycombe HP10 OEE (tel 06285 23566). Cheapest fully-fitted coffin only: £120 (delivery locally free, nationally 70p a mile). Cold storage only: yes, £10 per day. Body transport only: yes, mileage rate. Advice for d-i-y: yes, £50 to £60 per hour. Basic funeral: £540. Pre-paid plan: £540.
- Leicester: Gilroes Crematorium, Groby Road, Leicester LE3 9QG (tel 0533 527382). Price: £100 resident, £110 non-resident. Time allotted: 30 mins, extra time £26 per 30 mins. Situated within cemetery grounds.
- Leamington Spa: Mid-Warwickshire Crematorium, Oakley Wood, Bishops Tachbrook, Leamington Spa CV33 9QP (tel 0926 651418. Price: £95 (£118-75 for non-residents). Time allotted: 30 mins, extra time £16 per 30 mins. Also would accept rigid containers as long as draped with a cloth, or 'alternative' containers, eg a cardboard box, or body bags, if supported with a piece of pine or plywood and covered in a drape. Grounds: informal woodland. Winner of The Natural Death Handbook Most Helpful Crematorium Award.
- Leighton Buzzard: Andrew Capp funeral directors, 12 Orchard Lane, Stewkley, Leighton Buzzard, Beds. LU7 OHS (tel 0525 240205). Cheapest fully-fitted coffin only: £120 (delivery locally free, nationally 20p per mile). Cold storage only: no. Body transport only: yes, £50. Advice for d-i-y: yes, £10 per hour. Basic funeral: £300. 'Personal service and keen prices.'
- Luton Church Cemetery, 26 Crowley Great Road, Luton (tel 0582 22874). Plot (99 years): £124 (incl. opening grave and burial fee: £236-50). Maintenance: £45 per annum. Non-denominational chapel. Time for service: no limit. Grounds: garden and wooded.
- Nottingham: coffin maker Vic Fearn Ltd, Crabtree Mill, Hempshill, Bulwell, near Nottingham (tel 0602 271907). The firm does artist-painted coffins using water-based paints (which can be cremated) from about £500. Mr J. D. Gill has arranged that for orders coming via the Natural Death Centre the public could also be supplied with a conventional veneered chipboard coffin, fitted with handles and lined, or a rather fine solid wood coffin made from recycled scrap pallets made to their own design.
- Oxford Cemetery, The Lodge, Wolvercote Cemetery, Banbury Road, Oxford OX2 8EE (tel 0865 513962). Administers four cemeteries. Plot (75 years) £185. Digging & burial: £90. Both fees doubled to non-residents. Maintenance if wanted: £30 p.a. Victorian chapel. Grounds: formal. Memorials: more or less any design, any height (lawn graves up to 3' 6").
- Rushden: . Abbott & Sons funeral directors, Bedford Road, Rushden NN10 OLZ (tel 0933 312142). Cheapest fully-fitted coffin only: £75 (delivery locally free, nationally by mileage). Cold storage only: yes, no charge. Body transport only: yes, £100. Advice for d-i-y: yes, charge to be arranged. Basic funeral: £749 cremation, burial £584, both prices including disbursements. Pre-paid plan: Golden Charter. Member of SAIF. Counselling and services of a solicitor free.
- Cambridge City Cemetery, Newmarket Road, Cambridge, Cambs (tel 02205 2210). Plot (50 years) plus burial: £207 residents, £415 non-residents. Time for service: 30 mins. Grounds: formal.
- Clacton Cemetery, Burrs Road, Clacton-on-Sea (tel 0255 423416 or 831108). Plot (99 years): £244 (includes digging and burial; chapel with organ, fee £29 extra). Maintenance: £18 to £22 per annum. Church-like chapel. Time for service: 45 mins. Grounds: formal.
- Colchester Cemetery, Mersea Road, Colchester CO2 8RU (tel 0206 573252). Plot (25 years, renewable up to 75 years): from £84 to £151. Digging, burial and use of chapel: £132 (£155 non-residents). Maintenance £13-50 per annum, lawn area free. Time for service: 30 mins. Grounds: wooded and lawns. Memorials: hard natural stone or granite.
- Colchester Crematorium, Mersea Road, Colchester CO2 8RU (tel 0206 573252). Price: £126.50. Time allotted: 30 mins, no extra time allowed. Grounds: 9 acres of trees, shrubs, rose gardens.
- Harwich: Dovercourt Cemetery, Main Road, Dovercourt, Harwich (tel 0255 503652 or 831108). Plot (99 years): £244 (includes digging and burial; chapel with organ, fee £35 extra). Maintenance £18 to £22 per annum. Church-like chapel. Time for service: 45 mins. Grounds: formal.
- Kirby Cross Cemetery, Holland Road, Kirby Cross (tel 0255 831108). Plot (99 years): £244 (includes digging and burial). Maintenance: £18 to £22 per annum. No chapel. Grounds: formal.
- Norwich: Peter Taylor funeral services, 85 Unthank Road, Norwich NR2 2PE (tel 0603 760787). Cheapest fully-fitted coffin only: £65 (delivery locally £10, nationally 65p per mile). Cold storage only: yes, £10. Body transport only: yes, £50. Advice for d-i-y: yes, £25 per hour. Basic funeral: £440. Pre-paid plans Chosen Heritage and Windsor Life (regular contributions, free choice of funeral). Parent company: Anglia Funeral Services Ltd. Eight branches in Norfolk and Suffolk with same prices and policies. Phone for details. A horse-drawn hearse can also be supplied from £500.
- Radlett: Pets Meadow ( possible source of coffins), Harper Lodge Farm, Harper Lane, Radlett, Herts WD7 7HU (tel 0923 852470). Pet cemetery that may supply adult coffins fully fitted and delivered anywhere for £80 (also do caskets for ashes).
- St Albans: Phillips Funeral Services, 68 Alma Road, St Albans, Herts AL1 3BL (tel 0727 851006). Cheapest fully-fitted coffin only: £97-50 (delivery locally £85, nationally £1-50 per mile). Cold storage only: yes, £ 25 per day. Body transport only: yes, £85. Advice for d-i-y: yes, £30 per hour. Basic funeral: £550. Pre-paid plan: Golden Charter. Member of SAIF.
- Saxmundham: Tony Brown's funeral service, The Funeral Parlour, Chantry Road, Saxmundham, Suffolk IP17 1DJ (tel 0728 603108). See the description by Libby Purves earlier in this chapter. Would not supply coffin only. Cold storage only: yes, no charge. Body transport only: yes (mileage rate). Advice for d-i-y: no. Basic funeral: price not stated. Pre-paid plan: no, 'Privately if required, but I do not believe in it.' Would not give price breakdowns over the phone 'because I have had other firms phone in for this', but would in writing. 'I conduct a personal family business I like doing and I object to all unnecessary red tape. I give a very good Christian service and treat everybody the same unless they want something elaborate. People are important in my work and I have built up a busy business by treating them as such.'
- Weeley Essex): Weeley Crematorium, Colchester Road, Weeley CO16 9JP (tel 0255 831108). Price: £128. Time allotted: 45 mins, 'extra time unnecessary'. Grounds: formal gardens.
- Bath: Haycombe Cemetery, Whiteway Road, Bath BA2 2RQ (tel 0225 423682). Plot (75 years): £165 (for advance reservation, an extra 50%). Non-residents double fee. Digging and burial: £95. Maintenance and planting, if wanted: £60 p.a. Time for service: one hour. Grounds: formal. Memorials must be of natural quarried stone.
- Bournemouth: North Cemetery, Strouden Avenue, Bournemouth BH8 9HX (tel 0202 526238). Plot (50 years): from £153 to £234. Digging and burial: £173. All fees doubled to non-residents. Maintenance from £27 per annum. Church-like chapel. Time for service: 20 mins. Grounds: formal. Also administers: Kinson Cemetery, South Kinson Drive, Bournemouth; East Cemetery, Gloucester Road, Bournemouth; and one at Wimborne Road, Charminster Road, Bournemouth.
- Bournemouth Crematorium, Strouden Avenue, Bournemouth BH8 9HX (tel 0202 526238). Price: £142.50. Time allotted: 30 mins, extra time £142-50. Also would accept rigid containers as long as draped with a cloth, or 'alternative' containers, eg a cardboard box, if supported with a piece of pine or plywood and covered with a drape. Grounds: formal gardens.
- Bristol General Cemetery Company, The East Lodge, Arnos Vale, Bath Road, Bristol BS4 3EW (tel 0272 713294). Plot (60 years): £450. Digging, burial and use of chapel: £250. Maintenance: £25 per annum. Grade II listed church-like chapel. Time for service: 20 mins. Grounds: Victorian Arcadian garden, unique woodland setting and a lot of character from 20 listed buildings.
- Dorchester CCemetery, 31a Weymouth Avenue, Dorchester DT1 2EN (tel 0305 263900; mobile 0836 280840). Plot (100 years) £220. Digging, burial and interment fee: £135. Maintenance not charged. Victorian chapel with pews and stained glass window. Time allowed for service: flexible, if informed in advance. Built in 1856, the cemetery has traditional Victorian buildigns set amongst winding paths, mostly grassed areas with yew trees. Memorials up to 6ft high.
- Paignton Cemetery, Colley End Road, Paignton (tel 0803 327768). Details same as Torquay, see below.
- Plymouth: Efford Cemetery, Efford Road, Efford, Plymouth (tel 0752 264857). Also administers Weston Mill Cemetery, Ferndale Road, Weston Mill, Plymouth (tel 0752 264837). Plot (25 or 100 years) from £78 to £375. Digging & burial: from £174. Maintenance if wanted: £17-63 p.a. Church-like chapel. Grounds: formal, plus some wooded area. Memorials: quarry stone only, area and height restrictions.
- Poole Crematorium, Gravel Hill, Poole BH17 9BQ (tel 0202 602582). Price: £132-20. Time allotted: 30 mins, extra time £132-20. Grounds: formal gardens and woodland, interior floral court.
- Torquay Cemetery, Hele Road, Torquay TQ2 7QG (tel 0803 327768). Plot (100 years) £176 (doubled to non-residents). Digging and burial: £142. Use of chapel: £33. No maintenance charges. Non-denominational church-like chapel. Time for service: only limited by availability. Grounds: formal. Memorials: natural stone, inscriptions rarely disagreed with.
- Torquay Crematorium, Hele Road, Torquay TQ2 7QG (tel 0803 327768/329977. Price: £116. Time allotted: 20 mins, double time allowed at no extra charge if available. Grounds: formal gardens.
- Weymouth Crematorium, Quibo Lane, Weymouth DT4 ORR (tel 0305 786984. Price: £178. Time allotted: 30 mins, extra time £15 per half hour. Also would accept rigid containers as long as draped with a cloth, and perhaps others, if seen first. Grounds: formal garden.
- Weymouth: Stocking Funeral Service, 22 Crescent St, Weymouth DT4 7BX (tel 0305 785915). Cheapest fully-fitted coffin only: £100 (delivery locally £25, nationally £25 plus £1 per mile over 20 miles). Cold storage only: yes, approx. £10 per day. Body transport only: yes, £70. Advice for d-i-y: yes, £15 per hour. Basic funeral: £425. Pre-paid plan: Perfect Assurance Funeral Trust. Parent company: Grassby & Sons Ltd.
- Winscombe: . V. Gower & Son funeral director, The Square, Winscombe, Avon BS25 1BS (tel 093484 2945 or 2187). Cheapest fully-fitted coffin only: £125 (delivery locally £10). Cold storage only: yes, £5. Body transport only: yes, price by distance. Advice for d-i-y: yes, no charge. Basic funeral: £650. Member of SAIF.
- Yeovil Cemetery, Preston Road, Yeovil (tel 0935 23742). Plot (75 years): £169. Digging, burial and use of chapel: £164. Maintenance: £15-32 per annum. Church-like chapel. Time for service: 30 mins. Grounds: formal garden.
- Yeovil Crematorium, Bunford Lane, Yeovil (tel 0935 76718). Price £145. Time allotted: 25 mins, no extra time allowed. Grounds: parkland.
- Basingstoke Crematorium (Carpenters Wood), c/o Deborah Hinton, 22 Westmoreland Place, London SW1V 4AE (tel 071 828 3965) opening '94, with unusually good design (see earlier discussion) and woodland setting, and very helpful to d-i-y families. Price: £225. Time allotted: 40 mins, extra time £1 per min. Also would accept any kind of body container including body bag as long as it meets pollution requirements and protects public decency. Flexible seating, coffin close to floor and visible throughout service, mourners able to file past coffin.
- Brighton Crematorium, Woodvale, Lewes Road, Brighton BN2 3QB (tel 0273 604020). Price: £130. Time allotted: 45 mins, extra 45 mins allowed free of charge. Also would accept rigid containers as long as draped with a cloth. Grounds: wooded valley, stream, waterfall, rockeries, gardens.
- Eastbourne Crematorium, Hide Hollow Langney, Eastbourne BN23 8AE (tel 0323 761093). Price: £145. Time allotted: 30 mins, extra time £145. Grounds: formal gardens.
- Hastings Borough Cemetery, The Ridge, Hastings TN34 2AE (tel 0424 721204). Plot (50 years): £140. Digging, burial and use of chapel: £190. Maintenance: £30 per annum. Modern church-like chapel. Time for service: 20 mins. Also would accept: heavy cardboard box supported on pine or ply. Grounds: formal, lawned, 80 acres, unrivalled views over Sussex countryside. Headstone optional, not more than 3ft high.
- Hastings Crematorium, The Ridge, Hastings TN34 2AE (tel 0424 721204). Price: £118. Time allotted: 20 mins, extra time limited to 20 mins (£118). Also would accept rigid containers as long as draped with a cloth, or 'alternative' containers, eg a cardboard box, if supported with a piece of pine or plywood and covered with a drape. Grounds: lawned or semi-wooded.
- Haywards Heath: . & S. Gallagher funeral directors, Fraser House, Triangle Road, Haywards Heath, West Sussex RH16 4HW (tel 0444 451166). Cheapest fully-fitted coffin only: £93 (delivery locally £15, nationally at cost). No cold storage facilities, only embalming. Body transport only: Yes, £40 (£70 hearse). Advice for d-i-y people: Yes, negotiable fee. Basic funeral: £525. Pre-paid plan: Private plan, client retaining fees.
- Maidstone: Vinters Park Crematorium, Bearsted Road, Maidstone ME14 5LG (tel 0622 38172). Price: £130. Time allotted: 30 mins, no extra time allowed. Grounds: formal and wooded.
- Morden: North East Surrey Crematorium, Lower Morden Lane, Morden SM4 4NU (tel 081 337 4835). Price £104. Time allotted: 30 mins, extra time £60 for 30 mins. Coffin must meet Environmental Protection Act requirements. Grounds: formal gardens.
- Portchester Crematorium, Upper Cornaway Lane, Portchester (tel 0329 822533). Price: £121. Time allotted: 30 mins, extra time negotiable. Grounds: gardens.
- Portsmouth: Mayfields funeral directors, 90 Elm Grove, Southsea, Portsmouth (tel 0705 875575). Cheapest fully-fitted coffin only: £75 (delivery locally £5, within 20 miles £10). Cold storage only: yes, £5-75. Body transport only: yes, £25. Advice for d-i-y: yes, £25. Basic funeral: £399. Pre-paid plan: Rest Assured life assurance policy. Aims to be unostentatious. New in 1992. Has a bereavement centre with trained counsellors.
- Salisbury: . A. Harold & Son, funeral directors, 77 Estcourt Road, Salisbury, Wilts SP1 3AX (tel 0722 321177). Cheapest fully-fitted coffin only: £50 (free delivery locally, nationally by mileage). Cold storage only: yes, minimal, negotiable charge. Body transport only: yes, £65. Advice for d-i-y: yes, £40 management fee. Basic funeral: £450. Pre-paid plan: Dignity in Destiny. Parent company: Plantsbrook Group. Manager is an experienced bereavement counsellor.
- Swanley: Doves funeral directors, 35 Station Road, Swanley, Kent BR8 8ES (tel 0322 669000. Cheapest fully-fitted coffin only: £85 (delivery locally £25, nationally from 80p per mile). Cold storage only: yes, £15 per day. Body transport only: yes, for a Daimler Hearse £150. Advice for d-i-y: yes, no charge. Basic funeral: £440. Pre-paid plan: Golden Charter. Branches in Maidstone (tel 0622 688662), Bromley (tel 081 460 1888), Orpington (tel 0689 870030), Sevenoaks (tel 0732 740444), Staplehurst (tel 0580 892125), Larkfield (tel 0732 871188) and Sittingbourne (tel 0795 431300). 'We have grown as a family-run business to eight branches within four years.'
- Uckfield: Fuller Scott funeral director, The Wakelyns, Uckfield, Sussex TN22 1AJ (tel 0865 763241). Cheapest fully-fitted coffin only: £86-50 (delivery locally £12, nationally £80). Cold storage only: yes, £5 per day. Body transport only: yes, £1-20 per mile normally. Advice for d-i-y: yes, free in my office. Basic funeral: £580. Pre-paid plan: Perfect Assurance and Chosen Heritage.
- Woking: The Brookwood Cemetery, Woking, Surrey GU24 OBL (tel 0483 472222). 'Some of the Muslim communities bury their dead here in kaftans. We would accept most kinds of container if funeral dignified.' Plots (50 years): from £750 to £1050. Digging and burial: £200. Maintenance £82 per annum. No chapel. Vast 420 acre cemetery with beautiful trees, many areas overgrown, Victorian monuments. Virtually any design of memorial accepted up to 3ft.
- Wokingham: Easthampstead Park Crematorium, Nine Mile Ride, Wokingham, Berkshire RG11 3DW (tel 0344 420314). Price: £150. Time allotted: 30 mins, extra half hour £70. Also would accept rigid containers as long as draped with a cloth. Grounds: 22 acres of landscaped gardens.
- Worthing Crematorium, Horsham Road, Findon BN14 ORQ (tel 0903 872678). Price: £145. Time allotted: 40 mins, extra time free, if possible, otherwise £20 for 40 mins. Also would accept rigid containers as long as draped with a cloth, or 'alternative' containers, eg a cardboard box, or body bags, if supported with a piece of pine or plywood and covered with a drape. Grounds: wildlife sanctuary.
- H. J. Bent & Co, 343 Ladbroke Grove, London W10 6HA (tel 081 969 1170).Cheapest very basic coffin only: £30 (delivery negotiable). Gave incomplete information as follows: Cold storage only: yes, no charge stated. Body transport only: yes, no charge stated. Advice for d-i-y: yes,'probably', no charge stated. Basic funeral: £600. Pre-paid plan: own scheme. Branches in NW8 (tel 071 723 1186) and W12 (081 743 3338).
- Camberwell New Cemetery, Brenchley Gardens, London SE23 3RD (tel 071 639 3121). Lawn grave plot (50 years) £264. Digging and burial: £316. Prices trebled for non-residents. Maintenance not charged. Church-like chapel. Time for service: 30 mins. Grounds: formal gardens. Natural stone memorials up to 6' 6".
- Chingford Mount Cemetery, 121 Old Church Road, Chingford, London E4 6ST (tel 081 524 5030). Plot (75 years) £270, residents only. Digging, burial and headstone foundation: £175. Grass-cutting not charged. No chapel. Grounds: semi-wooded, traditional lawn.
- City of London Cemetery, Aldersbrook Road, London E12 5DQ (tel 081 580 2151). Plot (75 years): £234 (lawn graves only). Digging and burial: £402. £115 reduction for residents. Optional maintenance £35 p.a. Victorian chapel. Time for service: 20 minutes. Grounds: formal. Memorials: marble or granite, 3ft high, 2ft wide.
- T. Cribb & Sons funeral directors, 112 Rathbone St, Canning Town, London E16 1JQ (tel 071 476 1855). Cheapest fully-fitted coffin only: £120 approx. (delivery locally free, nationally by mileage). Cold storage only: yes, no charge for reasonable time span. Body transport only: yes, price depending on time of removal, distance, etc. Advice for d-i-y: yes, no charge. Basic funeral: £495. Pre-paid plan: Golden Charter. Member of SAIF which has free medical and legal telephone helpline. Also offers 19th Century hearse drawn by black Friesian horses from £575.
- J. E. Gillman and Sons Ltd ffuneral director, 971 Garratt Lane, Tooting, London SW17 OLW (tel 081 672 1557). Cheapest fully-fitted coffin: £140 (free delivery locally, not possible nationally). Cold storage only: yes, £5 per day. Body transport only: yes, from £50. Advice for d-i-y: yes, no charge. Basic funeral: £460. Pre-paid plan: Golden Charter. Member of SAIF. Branches in SE27 (tel 081 670 4126), SW11 (071 228 0360), SW12 (081 673 8719), Mitcham (081 685 0349) and Carshalton (081 669 0483). Subject of a sympathetic documentary on BBC TV. 'Aim to treat the deceased as if it were a relative's funeral.'
- East Sheen Cemetery, Sheen Road, Richmond TW10 5BJ (tel 081 876 4511). Plot (50 years) from £167 to £267 (trebled to non-residents). Digging, burial and use of chapel: £131. Maintenance not charged. Edwardian chapel with non-religious stained glass windows. Time for service: 20 mins. Grounds: lawned sections, traditional plots. Memorials up to 6' 6", natural stone. Also administers Hampton Cemetery, Holly Bush Lane, Hampton; Richmond Cemetery, Lower Grove Road, Richmond; Twickenham Cemetery, Hospital Bridge Road, Twickenham; and Teddington Cemetery, Shacklegate Lane, Teddington. Teddington and Twickenham have Victorian chapels.
- Enfield Crematorium, Great Cambridge Road, Enfield EN1 4DS (tel 081 363 8324). Price: £120. Time allotted: 20 mins, extra time £120 for 20 mins. Possibly other body containers if inspected in advance. Grounds: formal gardens, landscaped areas.
- Haji Taslim Muslim Funerals, East London Mosque, 45 Fieldgate St, London E1 1JU (tel 071 247 2625 or 9583). Cheapest fully-fitted coffin only: £60 (delivery locally free, nationally 40p per mile). Cold storage only: yes, free. Body transport only: yes, £30. Advice for d-i-y: yes, free. Basic funeral: if indigent, free with private grave. Pre-paid plan: none. 'We are distinctive as you can judge from these answers. We are geared for Islamic funerals and shipping abroad.'
- Highgate Cemetery, Swains Lane, London N6(tel 081 340 1834). Plot (70 years) from £2,200 to £6,850. Digging and burial from £510. See no reason not to accept home-made coffins, body bags, etc, once people have paid for burial rights. No chapel (St Michael's is adjacent). Grounds: 'Magical, one of the most famous in the world. Opened 1839, a kaleidoscope of Victorian personalities buried here.' Entrance fees for visitors and tours. Some restrictions on 'inconsistent' memorial materials.
- E. M. Kendall, Undertaker, 46 Dalston Lane, Hackney, London E8 3AH (tel 071 254 6519). Cheapest fully-fitted coffin only: £80 (delivery locally £15, nationally: would depend on location). Cold storage only: no. Body transport only: no. Advice for d-i-y: 'if so required', no charge stated. Basic funeral: £385. Pre-paid plan: 'our own'.
- Kensal Green Cemetery, Harrow Road, London W10 (tel 081 969 0152). Plot (perpetuity) from £850 to £2,500. Digging, burial and service £125. Maintenance if required £35-25 p.a. Would accept a securely made home-made coffin. Chapel: Victorian listed building, with Roman-style pillars. Grounds: Gothic plus a honeycomb of catacombs underground. Memorials: headstones not to exceed 5ft.
- Lear of London, Bryson House, Horace Road, Kingston Upon Thames, Surrey KT1 2SL (tel 081 546 2633) supplies various types of body bags - biodegradable (£5-15), heavy duty transport bag (£18-75), ones with windows and ones suitable for cremation (£4), postage extra. The firm has a minimum order of £30 however. (You can also go through Green Undertakings - see the listings for the North East region.) It sells a very absorbent lining for coffins which costs £1-80 for 2 meters (width 50cms); and cremation urns from £3-60 to £290.
- Manor Park Cemetery Co. Ltd., Sebert Road, Forest Gate, London E7 ONP (tel 081 534 1486 or 4921). Plot (50 years) from £369 for lawn grave. Digging and burial £236. Traditional grave from £835 to £3,000, including digging and burial. Maintenance £25-85 per annum. 'Free Church, friendly and warm.' Time for service: 20 mins. Grounds: formal.
- Putney Vale Crematorium, Stag Lane, Putney, London SW15 3DZ (tel 081 788 2113 or 081 789 8734. Price: £83. Time allotted: 20 mins and 5 mins entrance and 5 mins exit; extra time can be paid for. Grounds: formal garden, fountain, lily ponds, extending into wooded glade.
- Henry Smith Ltd, coffin makers, 192 Garratt Lane, London SW18 4ED (tel 081 874 7622). Mr Carter has arranged that the firm will supply to individuals one standard coffin only, and only if ordered via the Natural Death Centre and picked up by the individual concerned paying by cash or cheque. The price is £94, in one of two standard sizes only (5' 8" or 6' 2", both 20" wide and 14" high; three pairs of plastic handles; a simple inside lining; and a nameplate engraved with name, age and date of death).
- South London Crematorium, The Garden of Remembrance, Rowan Road, London SW16 5JG (tel 081 764 2255). Price: £137. Time allotted: 30 mins, extra time £75 per half hour. Grounds: formal gardens.
- Southwark Crematorium, Bockley Way, London SE23 (tel 071 639 3121). Price: £132. Time allotted: 20 minutes, extra time only if available. Also would accept 'alternative' containers, eg a cardboard box, if supported on pine or plywood and draped in a cloth. Grounds: formal gardens, shrubbery, wooded area, garden of remembrance.
- South West Middlesex Crematorium, Hounslow Road, Hanworth, Feltham, Middlesex TW13 5JH (tel 081 894 9001). Price: £100. Time allotted: 30 mins, extra time £55 for half hour. Grounds: formal gardens and woodland.
- Walthamstow Cemetery, Queens Road, Walthamstow, London E17 (tel 081 524 5030). Plot (75 years): £270. Digging, burial and headstone foundation: £175. Maintenance not charged. Time for service: 30 mins. Grounds: traditional plain setting.
- Burial grounds as nature reserves. The Natural Death Centre has set up an Association of Nature Reserve Burial Grounds for farmers, wildlife charities and local authorities. There are about 40 sites at the planning stage at present. Nine or so local authorities sites are already open: Carlisle tel 01228 25022 - Ken West); Harrogate for local residents only), tel Stonefall Cem 01423 883523); Brighton, above the town (tel 01273 604020 - Stephen Horlock, Woodvale Cemeteries, The Woodvale Lodge, Lewes Road, Brighton BN2 3QB; in Hampshire the New Forest Council has two woodland burial sites open, at Beaulieu and Eling, price £305 including a tree or shrub, £184 extra for non-locals (tel 01703 285952 - Mrs Linda Coote); Burton upon Trent woodland burial area within Stapenhill Cemetery (38 Stapenhill Road, Stapenhill, Burton upon Trent, tel 01283 508572); Clitheroe (Lancs.) wwoodland burial, £210 all-in, doubled to non-residents, beautiful, on river bank; over half council employees said they would prefer this site (Janice Tolson, Ribble Valley Borough Council, Church Walk, Clitheroe, Lancs BB7 2RA, tel 01200 25111); Stroud Brimscombe woodland burial area (tel 01453 754425, Mrs Marion Humphreys, Stroud District Council, Ebley Mill, Stroud, Glos GL5 4UN). Stroud is not cheap, at £962 per grave. To make things easier for those not using funeral directors, Carlisle and Brighton supply to the general public a regular chipboard coffin for about £90. They also sell a cardboard coffin at £55; as do Bretby Crematorium, who are linked to the Stapenhill cemetery, but at Geary Lane, Bretby, near Burton on Trent, DE15 OQE, tel Mr French on 01283 221505 (none of these three can deliver, but see below for coffins by mail order). The cardboard coffins are large and not as shaped and elegant as the Compakta ones (below) and are made by Derek Williamson of Westminster Packaging New Road, Sheerness, Kent, tel 01795 580051, fax 01791 66606, minimum quantity 10). Carlisle also have a shroud a large woollen blanket) with ropes, for £85.
Local authorities planning woodland burial grounds include Edinburgh, Oxford, South Bristol (for autumn '95, tel 0117 9634141, Bob Gulliford), Worcester (a wildflower meadow), Darlington, Lancaster (City Council, tel 01524 582 1000, Dave Robinson) , Middlesborough and Hillingdon in London. This last should open 9/95.
The following are the 7 non-local authority green burial grounds which have planning permission to date and which are open to members of the public for burials: Greenhaven Woodland Burial Ground, NNew Clarks Farm (Christine Atkin or Nicholas Hargreaves), Lilbourne, Rugby, CV23 OSZ (tel 01788 860604), "puts people and widlife first and is setting the standards by which to judge other schemes" (John Bradfield); a two acre site, on the A5, £200 per grave, d-i-y gravedigging (or £50 if dug for you), a choice of tree planted for each grave, no chipboard coffins allowed but they have cardboard coffins and body bags for sale. The Tettenhall Sanctuary Mr Wilson), Jenny Walker's Lane, Perton, near Wolverhampton tel 01902 764422) where both pets and humans can be buried, in a beautiful valley, about £240 per grave. John Acton, Oakfield Wood Memorial Burials, WWrabness Farm, Wrabness, Nr Manning Tree, Essex CO11 2TQ (tel 01255 880182), a farmer with an eight acre burial ground overlooking a river within a 50 acre nature reserve, at £258 per grave (incl. digging, tree and wooden plaque). The Mowthorpe Independent Garden of Rest, /o Robert Goodwill, Southwood Farm, Terrington, York YO6 4QB (tel 01653 648459, fax 01653 648225) is a two and a half acre site with lovely views, £450 per grave (Compakta cardboard coffins £40, delivery locally extra). There is also the Hinton Park Woodland Burial Ground at Hinton, near Christchurch in Dorset, run by Mike Hedger (tel 01425 273640). Informally, burial may be possible on a farm near Lampeter, Dyfed, Wales (tel Liz Russell 0171 221 9320). The A. B. Wildlife Trust Fund with which J. B. Bradfield i associated; and which needs money to buy land for nature reserves) says that a small number of burials can take place in reserves near Harrogate; the Trust will help more generally too with d-i-y funerals and burials, in public and private settings. For details, which includes writing a simple will, send 50p in stamps to: 7 Knox Road, Harrogate, . Yorks HG1 3EF (tel 01423 530900). M. A. Curtis of Country Cemeteries, Llandrindod Wells tel/fax 01597 824842) is hoping to have a site.
Green Undertakings (address below) are also planning a nature reserve burial ground for the West Somerset area, where a donation of a minimum £375 to trust funds is suggested for burial on site and a coffin, cardboard coffin, shroud or bodybag as preferred. Transport for the body from a reasonable distance will also be able to be arranged for a further £175.
Those wanting to buy a freehold woodland burial site could try John Clegg & Sons (tel 01494 784711) or The Woodlands Centre tel Margaret Hanton on 0181 693 4000).
- Coffins by mail order. There is the excellent James Gibson (see earlier in this chapter): James Gibson (tel Bolton 01204 655869).
David Broadley at Huddersfield Funeral Supplies tel 01484 652288) offers a chipboard and (paper) foil coffin with handles and lining for credit card orders coming via the Natural Death Centre (for about £75 inc. delivery, extra £5 min. donation towards the Centre).
The cheapest and most elegant of all the cardboard coffins seems to be the new Compakta Coffin no lid for viewing though). This needs no bolts or clips, and costs £39-95, with courier delivery £12-93 incl. VAT extra. From P. A. Ginns, Compakta Ltd, The Old White Cottage, Desford, Leics LE9 9GS (tel 01455 828642). It can be collected from there or from near Bridlington in North Yorkshire.
Green Undertakings in Bristol sell coffins mail order; their prices, including VAT and delivery, are £65 for the Compakta cardboard coffin and £95 for an oak veneer chipboard coffin with proofed lining materials. Also body bag (£14), handles, name plate, coffin lining material, lowering webbing for burials. Their prices tend to be slightly higher, since they buy in small quantities. They also have available a pricey Swiss cardboard coffin which seems to have no advantages over the Compakta one.
Green Undertakings, /o Belmont, Brendon Road, Watchet TA23 OAX, tel 01984 632285 (telefax), with 01984 631156 as an emergency number only, please. They have opened a part-time shop at 1 High Street, Williton, Somerset (opening times Monday 2-4, Wed 11-1, Fri 10-12 and by appointment) and have helped with another new shop, Heaven on Earth, 47 Picton Street, Bristol BS6 5PZ (tel 01179 421 836), which has chest-coffins at £145, handpainted coffins from £250, shrouds from £25, mail order about £15 extra (open Tues-Sat 10-6, Sun 10-1; it is run by Paula Rainey-Crofts); and a mini-market in Bodmin offering physical assistance with d-i-y funerals (transport, laying out, cool room, lifting).
- Carpenters who can make coffins. Try any carpenter in the Yellow Pages. John Tuck and Mick McNicholas of Windmill Shopfitters Ltd (1 and 1a Windmill Lane, Stratford, London E15 1PG, tel 0181 534 1901, fax 0181 534 7099) are prepared to make coffins for members of the public, the cheapest being a flat pack plain chipboard coffin with pre-drilled holes, screws, screwdriver and diagram for assembly for £81-36 inc. VAT (assembled £107-95). They do not seem able to compete on price with some of the mass manufactured coffins on the Natural Death Centre's sheets, but the service may be of interest to members of the public with special requirements.
- Making our own coffins. Judith Wilson and family in Torquay organised the cremation for her mother including making the coffin themselves. As a result they are setting up an organisation called Personal Undertakings to help make coffins and provide advice for 'd-i-y' families. Personal Undertakings Judith Wilson), Flat 2, 4 St James Road, Torquay, Devon TQ1 4AZ (tel 01803 325702 or 615081; mobile 0831 12588).
- Transporting the body. Sheila Page advises that a stretcher can perhaps be borrowed from the local Red Cross or St Johns Ambulance to help move a body to the mortuary. A stretcher is long though and likely to need a van. The Compakta coffin is 77 inches long. Amongst the few estate cars it fits into are the old Volvo 940, the old Vauxhall Carlton and the new Ford Scorpio. Three four-foot-long pieces of wood under the handle-less Compakta coffin can help with carrying (although it can be carried on the shoulders).
- The French death supermarket. Plans for a London franchise (from Roc 'Eclerc in Paris) were cancelled as asbestos was found in the roof of the old Carpetland building in Catford and the would-be franchisees then tried to renegotiate their agreement. Roc 'Eclerc are now opening their own pilot death supermarket on the North Circular Road in London, from autumn 1995, selling coffins, urns, funerals, etc. The London agent for Roc 'Eclerc is Sam Weller on 0171 937 0052. The contact details for Roc Eclerc in Paris are: tel 010 331 4980 4865 or 4207 7513; fax 010 331 4980 4866 or 4762 7321.
- Cardboard coffin Green Funerals' option from Grimstead funeral directors (tel 01895 431000), £356 - 'disbursements' (crem, etc) extra. Harrow, Ruislip, Amersham area, probably £20 or so more for London area.
- Helping d-i-y families: Helen Berrett ooffers support to those in the Oxford area organising funerals without funeral directors (tel 01865 727882 evenings or 6am to 8am). Likewise Sheila Page in the Hampshire area (tel Lymington 01590 671205, not after 10pm).
Yew Tree Funerals: Steve Nutt and his wife in Newport, Gwent (tel 01633 272646) offer to help families in the S. West and in S. Wales à la carte: from £15 for fitting wood coffin with handles, £10 for placing the body into the coffin, to £70 for taking the body to the funeral.
Funeral director Colin Rogers Poole, Dorset, tel 01202 533353) offers varying percentages off to families doing bits of the funeral themselves.
- Free funerals. Those in need (receiving income support, housing benefit, disability working allowance or council tax benefit) should contact their local Social Security office. The government plans that from June 5th '95 the maximum funeral payment for the funeral director's services in such cases should be £500, plus extra for disbursements such as cremation, doctors' and minister's fees, flowers (up to £25), organist, travel, plus £75 for special religious requirements. There will also be a tighter check on ensuring that there is no one 'in closer contact' with the person who died who could afford to pay for the funeral.
The local authority is obliged (under the Public Health - Control of Disease - Act 1984 Part III Disposal of Dead Bodies Section 46) to arrange for the disposal of the body where 'no suitable arrangements have been made'. A. C. T. Connolly (of 26 Broadfields Avenue, Winchmore Hill, London N21 1AD) decided to test this Act by refusing to arrange for the disposal of a relative's body (which was in the coroner's mortuary at the local hospital). He resisted ('wrongful') pressure from the registrar of deaths to take various forms before he would register the death. Finally a helpful official in the council's Social Services department agreed to arrange the funeral and to register the death in the name of the council, with the Connolly family reimbursing the council for the £315 cost. The family were notified in advance of the time for the service and the committal at the crematorium. Mr Connolly concludes: 'It is a legally imposed duty on local authorities to carry out this public health function no matter what the financial position of the bereaved might be. Yet very few people indeed know of this local authority option.'
- Burials on your own land. A stated in chapter 6, it is possible to arrange burials on your own land. One of our contacts did this by setting aside a part of the large back garden in perpetuity for her husband's grave, so that this part was not sold with the rest of the house and grounds. (One estate agent has estimated, perhaps pessimistically, that a back garden burial could reduce the value of the property by as much as 20% to 50%.) As long as burials are not prevented by a restrictive covenant on the land (see the property deeds) a place of burial 'can be established by any person without statutory authority, provided that no nuisance [ie no pollution] is caused' (Halsbury's 'Laws of England').
An appeal by Ian Alcock Shannel, Ballogie, Aboyne, Aberdeenshire AB34 5DR, tel & fax 013398 84207) helped to reaffirm this. Ian Alcock had appealed against planning permission being required for the burial of himself and his wife in unmarked graves on their own wildflower meadow; the appeal ruling was that 'a limited number of unmarked and unfenced graves would not constitute a material change of use; the planning consent issued to you by the district council is superfluous'. Recent Certificate of Lawfulness council decisions have confirmed this applies to England too - indeed that planning permission is not normally required for non-commercial sites, for a reasonable number of burials for family, friends and those living in the house. More cautiously, the Department of Environment's spokesman writes (13/5/94): 'May I confirm that planning permission is not required for the burial of one or two persons in back gardens, it would only be required if there was an intention to bury a larger number of people.'
You do not even require the sanction in advance of the environmental health officers (though they can act to prevent a burial if pollution would result). It could be diplomatic to consult both them and the planning department however; and to go armed with the Green Burial book and/or The Natural Death Handbook, as local authorities may not be very well-informed on this subject. In general, it is advised to avoid being within 250 metres of any well or borehole or 10 metres of any standing or running water. And note that animal carcases in a field normally have to be buried 250 metres from any human-consumption water supply, 30 metres from any other spring and 10 metres from any field drain. A suitable site would have no water at the bottom of the grave when first dug. It is a good idea to consult the National Rivers Authority (tel 0171 820 0101). And you must of course register the burial at the local Registry for Births and Deaths. For private land burials you would be advised (though not required by law) to append a plan of where the body is to the deeds of your property.
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