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A Church Near You contains up to date information about all the churches in the Diocese of Oxford.

To find out your nearest church or which parish you live in just search using your postcode.

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Revised Churchyard Regulations PDF Print E-mail
Churchyard Regulations inc. regulations and memorial Agreement Form
Guidance Leaflets separate leaflets for funeral directors and bereaved families

Churchyards have been regarded from their inception as ‘God’s acre’.

Everything in a churchyard, from the memorial stones to the trees and shrubs, should be a matter for care and consideration.

All parishioners who take a real interest in their churchyard and its surroundings will naturally wish it to be a place of beauty.

Incumbents and churchwardens are recommended to obtain a copy of The Churchyards Handbook (4th edition, 2001) published by the Council for the Care of Churches, which contains much useful advice and information.

These Regulations relate primarily to all churchyards and to other consecrated ground associated with churches. However, consecrated portions of burial grounds established by cemetery companies or by local authorities are also within the jurisdiction of the Consistory Court for certain purposes, and therefore clergy who are concerned with interments of remains in such grounds should ensure that these Regulations are understood by the legal personal representatives and undertakers involved.

Areas covered include:

  • Legal Rights and Delegated Authority
    • Right of Burial
    • Authorising Memorials or Ledgers
    • Churchyard Memorial Agreement
    • Reference to Diocesan Registry
  • Diocesan Regulations for Tombstones, Monuments or Ledgers
    • Materials
    • Dimensions
    • Base and Foundation Slab
    • Designs
    • Sculpture
    • Inscriptions
    • Commemoration after Cremation
    • Trademarks
    • Upkeep
  • Vaults and Above-Ground Funerary Edifices
  • Publicity and Variations
  • The removal of tombstones and kerbstones and the levelling of grave mounds
  • Closure of churchyards
  • Reservation of grave spaces
  • Interment of cremated remains
    • Interment in a churchyard or other consecrated ground open for burials
    • Interment in ground no longer open for burials
  • Interment within or below the church
  • Removal of human remains from consecrated ground to another place of burial