Cemetery regulations, terms and conditions
Mareham le Fen Cemetery Regulations, Terms and Conditions
This agreement applies to Mareham le Fen Cemetery situated Horncastle Road, Mareham le Fen, Lincs. PE22 7RB and has been approved and adopted by Mareham le Fen Parish Council at their meeting on 20th April 2022.
The terms & conditions contained within this agreement are applicable to all users and visitors to the cemetery.
Persons visiting or making use of the Council's Cemetery do so on the understanding that they shall comply with these terms & conditions in their entirety. Any person found to be not in compliance may be asked to leave and be refused future admittance to the Cemetery for such periods as the Council may prescribe and may also face fines.
A copy of this agreement will be given to each purchaser of an Exclusive Right of Burial or when a Exclusive Rights are transferred, free of charge. Copies can be provided to others on application to the Parish Clerk for which a charge will be made.
Records of burials and purchased graves are kept by the Parish Clerk. Searches and extracts may be obtained upon payment of the appropriate fee.
This agreement will be available to view free of charge on the parish council website.
All enquiries please contact: Clerk and Responsible Financial Officer, Mareham le Fen Parish Council
Email: clerk.marehamlefen.pc@gmail.com.
Website: https://mareham-le-fen.parish.lincolnshire.gov.uk/
Contact should be made by email or to the address given on the website by post. The Parish Council does not have a public office. Meetings would be by appointment.
TERMS AND CONDITIONS
These terms and conditions override any previous terms and conditions, and the Council reserves the right to make alterations, additions & amendments to these terms and conditions as and when necessary without prior notice.
DEFINITIONS
The Council – Mareham le Fen Parish Council
The Clerk – The Clerk to Mareham le Fen Parish Council
Purchased Grave – any plot of land at Mareham le Fen Cemetery which contains (or intends to contain) human remains for which a Grant of Exclusive Right has been issued by Mareham le Fen Parish Council.
GENERAL
All visitors to the Cemetery must act in a responsible manner whilst on said grounds and shall not cause any nuisance, distress, inconvenience, annoyance or disturbance to any other persons working at or visiting the cemetery.
All dogs must be kept securely held on a leash and not allowed to wander around. All dog excrement must be removed and taken away from the Cemetery.
Visitors shall not damage or interfere with nor allow others to damage or interfere with any property or fixtures belonging to the Council, the Council’s contractors or any grave, headstone, memorial or other items left on a grave.
The consumption of alcohol, smoking and the use of any illegal substances on or at the cemetery site is strictly prohibited.
The taking of photographs, filming or recording in the cemetery is not permitted unless written agreement has been given by the Council. The Council reserves the right to charge a fee for allowing permission for this activity.
Playing of games or participation in any sport is strictly prohibited.
The use or discharge of any firearm is strictly prohibited unless the discharge of firearms is in respect of a military funeral, for which prior agreement has been given by the Council.
The Local Authorities’ Cemetery Order 1977 specifies that the following are offences; a) willfully creating a disturbance in a cemetery; b) committing a nuisance in a cemetery; c) willfully interfering with a burial taking place in a cemetery; d) willfully interfering with any grave or vault, any tombstone, other memorial, or any flowers or plants or any such matter; or e) play at any game or sport in a cemetery. Only officers or servants of the parish council and any person appointed by the council to be present should be in the cemetery outside the opening hours. Any other person who enters or remains in the cemetery during the hours it is closed will be committing an offence.
Complaints should be made to the Police where it is believed an offence is taking place otherwise all other complaints must be made to the Clerk or Chairman of the Council.
NOTICE PERIODS
Notice for an interment, installation/removal/amendment to a memorial etc must be given to the Clerk. The minimum notice periods are stated below:
Burial – 4 working days
Cremated Remains – 4 working days
Memorial – 10 working days
Please note that interments at a shorter notice may be considered for religious reasons or in exceptional circumstances, but the Council reserves the right to make an extra charge to cover any additional costs incurred.
DEATH CERTIFICATES
A Registrar’s certificate, Coroner’s order for Burial or Certificate of Cremation for Burial Purposes must be delivered to the clerk no later than the date of interment. Any person failing to deliver such a certificate or order is liable to a penalty (Births & Deaths Registration Act 1926). The burial in the cemetery will be prohibited until the certificate has been delivered.
FEES
All fees are revised annually. All fees must be paid to the Mareham le Fen Parish Council. The Clerk will provide an invoice which will enable the payment to be made. Cheque and BACS payments are accepted.
Parishioner rates to be charged if the deceased person’s last home address was within Mareham le Fen Parish according to the electoral register (or after having moved out of the parish into care including care with a family member).
If after purchasing a reserved space whilst a parishioner and then moved away and no longer owns property in the parish, interment fees would revert to non-resident charge after 5 years.
INTERMENTS
Interments must take place between the hours of Monday to Friday 9.00am - 4.00pm. Interments may take place outside these hours by special arrangement subject to an additional administration charge.
Only coffin burials will usually be allowed. If any other arrangement is required the Clerk should be informed in advance at the time of booking the interment.
Cremated remains must be interred in an urn, casket or other receptacle designed for this purpose.
The scattering or burial of cremated remains without the Consent of the Council is strictly prohibited and is liable to prosecution.
In the case of cremated remains, a maximum of two may be interred per cremation plot or six within an existing burial plot. If more are needed in any plot this should be discussed with the Clerk at the time the burial is booked.
All grave spaces will be allocated by the Clerk and a plan showing the location of those grave spaces and burials will be kept by Mareham le Fen Parish Council.
GRAVE DIGGING
Grave diggers will be organised by Funeral Directors and are allowed to carry out work on the site. Funeral Directors are to provide their own grave diggers and it is their responsibility to ensure that the grave diggers employed by them are familiar with the cemetery and abide by these regulations, terms and conditions. The Parish Council may request Funeral Directors to provide the Safe Scheme of Work and Risk Assessments to the Clerk.
All graves must be excavated by hand (no mechanical diggers are to be used). Any Funeral Director or grave digger found to be breaking these rules will be banned from the site.
All excavations will follow current regulations in place. Funeral Directors are responsible for ensuring that grave diggers work in a responsible and safe manner and observe all Health and Safety legislation and Codes of Practice in force at the time of the excavation. All excavations must be shored up and if left unattended for any period of time boarded or by using lockable covers and appropriately guarded. Grave diggers must follow the ICCM Code of Safe Working Practice for Cemeteries and must ensure the safety of all staff, contractors and visitors to the cemetery as a result of their work.
All excess soil must be removed from the site or placed on the Council’s soil heap. Soil should not be left in the new Cemetery Extension area without explicit instruction from the parish council through the Clerk and only in specified locations. Excess soil may also be used to level existing grave spaces if appropriate.
RE-OPENING OF GRAVES
Once interments have taken place, a grave may only be re-opened in the following circumstances:
- For up to six successive interments of cremated remains only (burial plot)
- For up to one successive interment of cremated remains only (ashes plot)
- For exhumation purposes – only by a court order.
In the event that a family wish to bury cremated remains in a burial or cremation plot in excess of these limits it must be brought to the attention of the Clerk. The circumstances may be reviewed by the Parish Council.
VEHICLES
Vehicles, cycles or motorcycles are allowed entry into the cemetery only on the tarmac road around the Cemetery Chapel building. Vehicles, cycles, or motorcycles are not permitted to be used on pathways or unpaved areas of the cemetery. Failure to observe this may create a nuisance or disturbance in the cemetery under the Local Authorities’ Cemetery Order 1977 which may be an offence. Any visitor found to be breaking these rules may be banned from the site.
If any damage is caused to the cemetery, or items within the cemetery, by any vehicle, the person(s) driving the vehicle will be held fully responsible and will be expected to reimburse any costs incurred in repairing or reinstating such damage as well as face being prosecuted under the Local Authorities’ Cemetery Order 1977.
EXCLUSIVE RIGHT OF BURIAL
When an exclusive right of burial is purchased, the full name and address of the purchaser must be supplied. The Grant will be numbered & will specify the name & address of the purchaser & details of whom it has been purchased for as appropriate.
Purchasers shall not dispose of their rights without the written consent of the Council. Where any rights have not been exercised, the Council may, at any time (after the expiration of the time period specified in the exclusive right) re-use the grave space without notice to the purchaser.
If a purchased grave is to be used for an interment then the grant of exclusive right must be delivered to the clerk immediately upon notification of said interment or sufficient information provided for the Clerk to be able to identify the grant from the council’s records.
If ownership of an exclusive right is to be transferred, the grant of exclusive right must be delivered to the clerk or sufficient information provided for it to be identified in the council’s records at the time of transfer. No transfers of ownership will be considered without such grant being identified. The parish council may charge a fee for the administration of transferring a grant.
Where the original grant document has been lost or destroyed, every effort will be made to trace the reserved grave space; however proof will be required to confirm that the person claiming the space is actually entitled.
For Exclusive Rights purchased for 50 years, renewal of said right may be available for additional fees up to a maximum of 100 years.
HEADSTONES/MEMORIALS/PERSONAL ITEMS
An exclusive right of burial must be purchased before any memorial of any kind can be erected.
Full details of all headstones, vases or other memorials must be sent to the Clerk for the Clerk to provide written approval prior to any installation takes place. Approval may have to be given by the parish council where they have not delegated the decision to the Clerk.
In consecrated areas of the cemetery the Diocese of Lincoln may have to be consulted prior to approval. In consecrated areas of the cemetery the Diocese of Lincoln may require removal of memorials that they object to.
At least 10 working days’ notice must be given to the Clerk by masons before erecting an approved memorial to allow the plot to be marked out to ensure it is positioned correctly. Any memorial that has been installed without the Council marking out the correct position will have to be removed & repositioned as appropriate at the memorial mason’s own expense.
Memorials must not be removed from the Cemetery without prior approval of the Clerk.
The following minimum periods must have elapsed following interment before any headstone/footstone/kerb stone and/or other fixed memorial can be fitted for any grave plot;
- Burial plot – 6 months
- Cremation plot – 3 months
- Cremation plaque on burial plot – 3 months
Vases not incorporated into a headstone can be placed on a burial and/or cremation plot immediately following interment on payment of the appropriate fee.
Permitted number and dimensions of memorials per plot:
Burial Plots
- 1 headstone not exceeding 91.4cm / 36 inches in height/ 40 inches in width
- 1 vase not exceeding 40cm / 16 inches in height
- 6 cremation plaques not exceeding 10cm / 4 inches in height
- Footstones and/or kerb stones not permitted
Cremation Plots
- 1 headstone not exceeding 60cm / 24 inches in height
- 2 cremation plaques not exceeding 10cm / 4 inches in height
Full details of the sizes/dimensions must be sent to the Clerk to provide written approval prior to any installation taking place. The parish council reserves the right to refuse any application where this may cause issues/encroach into adjoining and/or surrounding plots or where the nature of the memorial or the words may cause offence.
Vases not incorporated into the original memorial must be of a robust material and not be constructed of glass, ceramic or other fragile material.
All fixings used to secure headstones and/or other memorials must be appropriate for the area being fitted and must be installed using the recommended fixings approved by the National Association of Memorial Masons (NAMM) or the British Register of Accredited Memorial Masons (BRAMM) and work must be carried out by masons accredited by these professional bodies or equivalent.
No glass, ceramic or other fragile items to be left on graves.
A maximum of 5 personal items may be left on the grave provided that the items are on or around the headstone space. These items are left at the person’s own risk; the item does not cause offense to others and they are not placed in position where they will cause injury or damage to others or interfere with the general maintenance or grass cutting. Items may be moved to allow access for grass cutting. For excess items the Council reserves the right to ask for these items to be removed at their discretion.
No food items are to be left as a tribute.
If a memorial is found to be unsafe and dangerous the Council will make safe the area by cordoning off the grave or will lay the headstone down. The owner of the exclusive right for the grave/memorial will then be contacted (or a notice will be placed on the grave) for them to make arrangements to have the headstone repaired/re-fixed as appropriate. The owner of the exclusive right for the grave is responsible for all charges necessary in repairing/re-fixing said memorial. Occasionally volunteers may clean and restore the headstone, please advise the Clerk in writing if you agree to this.
Hanging of or attachment of items to trees/bushes/hedges etc. is strictly prohibited.
FLORAL TRIBUTES
Floral tributes can be left at any time but all dead flowers, wreaths or any other unsightly items must be removed from the grave when the flowers have died or usually after two months and may be removed from the site, deposited in the composting areas or the refuse provided. For items left for special occasions, the items will be removed (if not already done) in the following timescales:
Christmas – items will be removed from the 25th February
Easter – items will be removed two months after the Easter holiday
Remembrance Day – items will be removed by mid-January.
The planting of flowers, trees, shrubs etc on any grave is strictly prohibited. These may be cut or removed without notice as part of the grounds maintenance.
UPKEEP & MAINTENANCE
Upkeep & maintenance of the Cemetery grounds will be undertaken by the Council and its appointed contractors only and the use of lawn mowing/grass cutting equipment is strictly prohibited by any other party.
The use of hand shears is only permitted to trim around individual headstones, vases and other memorials.
Upkeep & maintenance of actual headstones/memorials themselves is the responsibility of the owner of the grant of exclusive right for that plot.
Mareham le Fen Parish Council will periodically carry out an inspection and conduct tests to ensure that memorials remain safe. Where the memorial is found to be unsafe the plot may be marked and cordoned off to allow time for the family to repair it. The memorial must be made safe by the Council if repairs are not carried out promptly.
All graves may be levelled or filled (if sinking occurs) as necessary by the Council, Funeral Directors and Grave Diggers using soil from later digging activities.
The Council reserve the right to remove from any grave any flowers, plants, trees, shrubs or any other item which the Council feels is dangerous, offensive, unsightly, overgrown or detrimental including tributes and personal items, as it deems necessary. This may occur without warning or notice.
All rubbish must be removed from the cemetery or placed in the bins provided.
In areas of the Cemetery which have been consecrated the Bishop of Lincoln and the Diocesan Office may make representations about the words used on memorials or items left in the Cemetery.
DAMAGE
To the extent that the general law permits, the Council accepts no responsibility for loss, damage or injury howsoever caused by visitors and/or dogs brought into the cemetery.
Any damage occurring at the Cemetery whether it be to gates, graves, memorials etc howsoever caused must be reported to the Clerk as soon as possible of the damage occurring. The person causing the damage shall be responsible for ensuring that the damage is rectified/repaired as soon as possible (and at their expense) and this must be done to the Council’s required standard and within the timescales specified. Wilful damage may be an offence under the Local Authorities Cemetery Order 1977 and the perpetrator may be prosecuted.