Cemetery Regulations

Cemetery regulations have been made to maintain an acceptable standard for the cemeteries in Eden.

Terms used in Regulations

• "The Council" means the Eden District Council.
• "The Cemetery" means any cemetery managed by the Council and shall include any chapels or buildings therein.
• "The Bereavement Services Office" covers all the cemeteries maintained by the Council.
• Memorial: Headstone, monument, cross, flat stone, kerbing or any other object over grave.

General Regulations

• Pedestrian access 8am to dusk daily.
• Vehicle access, except for attendance at an interment, is restricted to disabled or infirm visitors and those authorised by The Council.
• No vehicles will be allowed in the cemetery after dusk unless authorised by the Council.
• Vehicle speed is restricted to 5mph.
• Bicycles, skate boards or similar may not be ridden in the cemetery.
• Children under 12 years must be accompanied by a responsible adult.
• Dogs must be kept on a lead and should not be allowed to foul the Cemetery grounds.

Bereavement Services Office

• Contact: Assistanct Client Services Officer 
• Address: Bereavement Services Office, Chapel Buildings, Cemetery, Beacon Edge, Penrith Cumbria CA11 7RZ.
• Bereavement office opening hours
• Telephone: 01768 862152
• Email: penrith.cemetery@eden.gov.uk
• Fax: 01768 890027

Interments:

Interment Hours:

No interments shall take place on Good Friday, Christmas Day or Public Holidays except in cases of emergency certified by the Coroner or registered Medical Practitioner.

All interments, including the scattering of cremated remains, must be booked at Penrith Cemetery Office.

Booking Interment

Notice of Interment Form (PDF: 42Kb / 2 pages) should be completed to book an interment, copies are available from the Cemetery Office. Forms should be submitted not less than two working days before the interment to the Cemetery Office.

Purchased graves

No grave for which an exclusive right of burial has been purchased may be opened for the interment of a body or cremated remains or the scattering of cremated remains without the written permission of the owner of the Exclusive Right or their successor in title. If the Exclusive Right of Burial has been purchased for the grave to be used then the Deed of Grant must be provided with the Interment Notice or, if it is not available, the Indemnity on the reverse of the Interment Notice must be completed.

Certificate for Disposal

The Registrars Certificate for Disposal, the Coroners Order for Burial or the Certificate of Cremation must be given to the Cemetery Officer or designated person before an interment can take place.

Grave Spaces

• Standard grave space 2.7m (9') x 1.2m (4')
• Half grave spaces available for a child or cremated remains interment
• Full grave spaces are available for up to:
  • 3 interments in Penrith Cemetery
  • 2 interments in Appleby Cemetery
  • 1 interment in Alston, Garrigill and Nenthead Cemeteries

Half Grave

Half grave spaces may be used for up to 4 interments of Cremated Remains.

Public Graves

Public graves these are graves where no rights to the grave have been purchased i.e. there is no right to use the grave for further interments and a memorial may not be erected.

Purchased Graves

Purchased graves these are graves for which the Exclusive Right of Burial has been purchased, which give the purchaser the right to authorise the use of the grave for further interments and to apply for a memorial to be erected.

Exclusive Rights of Burial are currently granted for 50 years from the date of purchase.

Exclusive Rights of Burial granted prior to April 2000 are for 100 years from the date of purchase.

On the death of the owner of the Exclusive Right of Burial, the rights to the grave may be authorised by the next of kin or an executor.

The owner of the Exclusive Right of Burial may transfer the right to another person by submitting a Transfer Application Form, obtainable from Penrith Cemetery Office, and by payment of a transfer fee.

Soil Boxes

The council reserves the right to place soil boxes, on graves next to those which are being opened, without notice. The soil box will be removed immediately after the interment and the grave will be left as it was previously.

Coffins

Coffins made only from wood, wicker/cane, cardboard, or biodegradable caskets, shrouds, and urns will be accepted for burial, unless agreed with the Cemetery Officer.

Funerals

The conduct of all funerals within the cemetery is subject to the control of the Council's designated officer.

Music may only be played in the cemetery grounds with prior permission.

Immediately after the interment the grave will be backfilled to the level of adjoining ground and any floral tributes will be placed on the grave.

Flowers and Wreaths

Floral tributes will be removed by cemetery staff two weeks after the funeral or earlier if they become unsightly, or at the request of relatives or an executor.
Christmas wreaths will be removed by cemetery staff during the second week of February.

All other floral tributes should be maintained by those visiting graves.

All material suitable for composting e.g. floral, plant remains should be placed in the wheeled bins, where provided, located at the cemetery gates.

All other waste material should be placed in the black wheeled bins or baskets also located at the cemetery gates.

Memorials

• Memorials may only be placed on a grave space for which the Exclusive Right of Burial has been purchased.
• Memorials are not permitted in the Woodland Burial Area at Penrith Cemetery or on any graves or cremated remains plots for which the Exclusive Rights of Burial have not been purchased.
• Wooden crosses are permitted as temporary grave markers in lawn cemetery areas, prior to the installation of a permanent memorial but must then be removed from the cemetery.
• Only one headstone/memorial per grave space is allowed.
• New footstones, kerbstones or other forms of surround are not allowed
• An application for all proposed memorials and inscriptions must be submitted to Eden District Council for approval and all appropriate fees paid prior to any works being undertaken on site.
• All permanent memorials are to be constructed and installed by a competent stonemason registered with the Council, in accordance with the current National Association of Memorial Mason's Code of Practice (copy available on request), and to the satisfaction of the Supervising Officer.
• No work is to take place in the cemetery before 8.30am and after 5.00pm or sunset (whichever is sooner). No work will take place on Saturdays, Sundays or any bank or public holidays, except by agreement with the Council. Monumental masons will be required to suspend work for the duration of a funeral.
• Any damage done in connection with the erection of a memorial must be made good by the person erecting the memorial and the site left in a tidy condition.
• No memorial may exceed 1.2m (4') in height and 0.75m (2'6'') in width on single grave spaces or 1.8m (6') width on double grave spaces.
• Memorials in cremated remains rows and children's burial areas may not exceed 0.685m (2'3'') in height.
• All memorials must be installed with stainless steel ground anchors which comply with the NAMM Code of Practice, except by agreement with the Council.
• All new memorials must have the corresponding grave space number placed conspicuously on the left hand side of the stones base or the reverse of the memorial.
• Memorials installed in existing cemetery areas are to be installed on a 36"x18" (0.92 x 0.45m) concrete flag, except by agreement with the Council.
• Memorials installed in the Lawn Area of the extension land at Penrith Cemetery are to be installed on a 36"x18" (0.90 x 0.45m) concrete flag, set below ground level, except by agreement with the Council.
• The responsibility for the safety and upkeep, including repairs to any gravestone or memorial remains solely with the owner(s) of the grave or their successor(s) in title.
• The Council will make regular checks of memorials. Any memorials found to be unstable will be temporarily supported or laid flat. The Council reserves the right to repair or remove unsafe memorials at its discretion if the owner or successor cannot be found or refuses to arrange repairs.
• Shrubs, plants, bulbs and trees may not be planted without permission of the Council and then only in the immediate surrounds of the memorial space at the head of the grave(36''x18''). The Council reserves the right to prune or remove, without notice, any tree or plant that becomes a hazard or a nuisance.
• The Council reserves the right to remove any items not contained within the footprint ofthe headstone base (36''x18'') may be deemed as dangerous, a nuisance or inappropriate.

Rights

The Council reserve the right to amend any of the foregoing regulations and to deal with any circumstances or contingency not provided for in the regulations as necessary.

Eden District Council as the burial authority have in pursuance of their General Powers of Management contained in Article 3 (1) of the Local Authorities' Cemeteries Order 1977, made the Cemetery Rules and Regulations. These rules and regulations are to be observed in the cemeteries under the management and control of the Council.