Can i scatter ashes in a churchyard

By continuing to use this site you're agreeing to our cookie policy. Many people choose to scatter the ashes of a loved one in a location with a personal meaning or a connection to the person who has died. If you're unsure exactly what rules are in place about where you can and cannot scatter ashes, we can help.

Here is our guide to help answer some of the common questions around scattering ashes. In the UK, you can scatter the ashes of someone you love in a variety of open places. This can be in a garden of remembrance, in a green space, over water, or on private land. Some people request to have their ashes scattered in a place that was close to their heart. Others may not leave instruction. It's also possible to scatter ashes in multiple places, if preferred. In the UK, there's no explicit law against scattering ashes, as long as you get permission from the person who owns the land.

If you want to scatter the ashes over public or other private land, you'll need to request the permission from the landowner. That includes parks, commons, beaches, or private farmland and churchyards. Not all cemeteries allow scattering ashes, so check with the cemetery directly for their rules. If you own a plot of land in the cemetery, you should be able to scatter ashes over a family grave.

To learn more about the process of burying ashes, see our guide to the interment of ashes. Can you scatter ashes anywhere? The answer is yes, but there are guidelines to follow wherever you choose. The most common place for ashes to be scattered is at a family grave.

Did your loved one spend time at sea? Did they grow up in a coastal town? River Thames — this is perfectly acceptable, however there are guidelines that have been put in place by the Port of London Authority.

You should also avoid windy days and try not to leave anything other than ashes in the water, such as wreaths as these can harm wildlife. No vases or other monuments must be placed anywhere on the Crown Estate. Chatsworth House — this Derby county estate does allow the scattering of ashes but ask for certain rules to be followed.

The scattering of ashes should be done early or late in the day to avoid busy times. Also, the areas used for ceremonies must be away from the popular locations, such as the house itself, the car park and the bridge.

Many crematoria offer a very brief ceremony by a member of staff or you can bring a minister with you. Scattering is sometimes called strewing by funeral directors and crematoria staff. Many crematoria offer other choices such as niches in a columbarium or the purchase of a rose or another plant in the gardens. Most crematoria produce a booklet explaining all of the choices available.

It is often possible to inter the ashes in an existing grave or family plot in a cemetery or churchyard although scattering is often not possible. This may be a way of bringing together family remains when there is no space remaining in an old cemetery or a churchyard that is closed for new burials. Many cemeteries and churchyards also have space set aside for interment of ashes and small headstones may be permitted.

You could bury or scatter them in your garden. However you need to bear in mind that to move ashes that have been buried to another location, an exhumation licence would be required. It is possible to simply store the ashes at home, with a funeral director or at the crematorium, especially if they are to be kept and later scattered or buried with another family member who is still alive.

It is essential to keep a written record of where the ashes are and what is to happen to them in the future. Scatter them at sea or in a river. The official position on cremation from the Church of England dates back to the Convocation Debates that took place in the Second World War, some twenty years earlier than the Roman Catholic Church changed its view and the Orthodox Church is still officially against bodies being cremated.

I think the Church took two major wrong steps as a result of those Convocation debates. Firstly, it concluded that there was 'no theological significance' as to whether a body was cremated or buried: God was able to create resurrection bodies from the ashes of cremated remains as much as he could from the dust of the earth which is all that ultimately remains of a buried body.

Whilst no one would argue with this, it completely ignores the different symbolism that is offered in the two forms of disposal. At a burial, the body enters the ground whole. The imagery of the person sleeping until the Last Day then allows for the Resurrection of the Body to make sense with them rising from the grave on the Day of Judgement.

We declare in the Apostles' Creed that 'we believe in the Resurrection of the Body' and burial allows us the picture language to imagine what this will be like. Cremation takes us in a very different direction. Symbolically it says that the physical body no longer matters, so we may as well burn it. With the latter doctrine, cremation makes perfect sense because the soul is unaffected by the cremation.

However, it is not orthodox Christian belief! Secondly, Convocation concluded that burial and cremation were simply alternate, equivalent means of body disposal.