A visit to our parish churchyard & burial ground

Does it leave you with good memories?

Or do you feel saddened by the thoughtlessness of other visitors?

So during the next year we hope to begin a slightly wider programme of work to address this – and we would value your help to improve visits to the Burial Ground in particular.

Much valuable work was done on the churchyard graves by John Brooker and more recently by Val Taylor – written up in an earlier ECN.

We would like to:

 Develop a Burial Ground Plan with grave numbers and names

– available for visitors to view onsite/in the church

(the church is open every day from 8am-5pm)

 Ensure that all new grave stones/memorials have their number included – maybe on the back?

 Develop some Burial Ground Guidance

– having this on-site for families/visitors to clarify adornments that can/cannot be left in place like broken glass jars/china vases which can be a safety hazard.

 Have on-site information regarding waste disposal in these areas

– mainly ‘take it all home with you/revisit a month or so later to dispose of wreaths etc’– highlight that bins on-site are for green, compostable waste only

 Install a notice board in the Burial Ground for the above information – a donation or two would help

 Clear some of the overgrowth at the east side of the Burial Ground

We have had several requests from families to install a few more benches and plant a tree so there is clearly a desire to make this a pleasant place to sit, contemplate and remember – so I hope we can have your support with these few improvements.  

I would also welcome your help with encouraging your friends and relatives to take care of/look after their own ‘celebration areas’ and consequently help others to enjoy their visits to this part of our parish.

Thank you.  I welcome any positive suggestions.

Pauline Allen  | Lead Councillor for the Churchyard and Burial Ground | 07775926587

Most of us will probably need to visit St Michael and All Angels’ churchyard/burial ground at some stage during our time in Eastington whether it be a sad occasion for family or friends or just a walk in a peaceful place to remember a loved one or explore some of the local heritage.  However emotionally upsetting some of these visits may be, it is hoped that the experience will be a good, satisfying and memorable one .

First of all I want to thank all those who regularly take care of their family graves/areas - keeping them colourful and tidy by removing dead flowers, plants and commemorative wreaths.  We have also had many compliments on the upkeep of these two areas during the last few years with grass cutting, tree maintenance etc and at the time of writing they both look great having just been mown and strimmed.

Whose responsibility is this?

Our Parish Council has responsibility for the maintenance of both the closed churchyard and the current burial ground - this means the Council needs to spend some of its public money (our money) on this work throughout the year.   However, it appears that some visitors have not considered the issue of who clears up the debris that they leave behind. Of course, the answer is that the Parish Council has to pay someone to collect, remove and dispose of it all and this brings us back to public money – our money. If there continues to be increase in the accumulation of non-recyclable debris left lying around it could potentially mean a tax rise for us all!

Many of you will have seen the following items regularly stuffed into bins or left on-site:

 Glass/china vases, ornaments/jars of all sizes and often broken

 Metal adornments, plastic flowerpots, plastic flowers, plastic funeral shapes (including the oasis which is not compostable)

 Paper wrappings and ribbons

 Perished flowers, and wreathes left on graves

 Dog poo bags – full! (left hanging on trees/bushes, in the church waste bins and everywhere…)