Churchyards
Rights of Burial.
In Harnham, we have a churchyard at St George’s and at All Saints.
Anyone who is on the church electoral role at the time of their death or who has died whilst resident in the parish has a right to be buried here. Those who did not die within the parish have no rights to burial or the internment of ashes. This decision is at the discretion of the priest.
St George’s church yard is only open for ashes to be interred and has no room for new grave spaces. All Saints church has room for graves and the internment of ashes.
If you have a family grave, it is possible for ashes to be interred into the grave space. Also some family graves are double depth and so have room for close family to be buried within the same grave space.
Please note it is not possible to reserve plots for future, the only exception are the family graves.
Christian burial is intended to provide a final resting place for your loved one. The transfer of remains from one place to another is not permitted, except in the most exceptional circumstances. It is illegal for ashes to be scattered and not usual for them to be split.
Memorials
Any memorial over a grave cannot be erected without the permission of the Chancellor of the Diocese. The Chancellor has regulations about the size and shape and type of material used, as well as the wording on gravestones. The full regulations are set out in the Salisbury Diocesan regulations 2008. (See Salisbury diocesan website) and the permission of the Chancellor is called a faculty. (It is rather like planning permission for churches and churchyards.)
In practice this authority is delegated to the incumbent, which in Harnham is the priest. The priest has to check that the request for a memorial conforms to the regulations. An application has to be made in writing and to be agreed before work starts. There is a fee for the application.
Application forms are held on the Salisbury diocesan website – see the link below and should be sent to Revd. Becky Roberts.
The memorial can only be erected 6 months after the burial.
Please do not allow a stonemason to begin work on a memorial before written confirmation that it can be installed in the churchyard.
Further information on the regulations and recommendations for Memorials and headstones can be found in the “Churchyard Rights of Burial and Regulations” . The leaflet also contains information on the care of the memorials and the churchyard.
