Churchyards are special places for many reasons. Many of them are beautiful, ancient and tranquil places which bear witness to a community’s history and may be important wildlife habitats. They’re also a focus for commemoration of the dead – the recently departed, past generations and the fallen in the two World Wars and other conflicts. Permission to erect a memorial at a burial in a churchyard is given by the parish concerned, provided that it conforms to the specified measurements, design and other criteria set down in the Churchyard Regulations, which are issued by the Commissary General. You can download those regulations here.
If you wish to commemorate a deceased person in any other form, either in your churchyard or within your church, please contact the Care of Churches team directly for advice. If you’re thinking of installing a commemorative plaque, you can find advice on that here. If you wish to reserve a grave plot, you can download a form for that here. If you wish to reserve a plot to inter ashes, you can download a form for that here. Please note that a lodgement fee applies for private faculty petitions such as these – the cost of processing them is not covered by the Diocese. Incidentally, if you don’t yet have a Garden of Remembrance for interring ashes and would like to create one in your churchyard, you can find guidance on the subject here.
Many churchyards in the Diocese have been closed for burials and the local council is responsible for care and maintenance. If you’re not sure whether that’s the case at your church, you can download a list of closed churchyards in Kent. Don’t forget that closed churchyards are still subject to the faculty jurisdiction.