Cemetery visitor’s vehicles may only use the main drive of the cemetery. The side roads and paths are for access to graves by staff vehicles only or for pedestrian use, and not for use by unauthorised private motor vehicles.
Rights of burial are granted for eighty years. You have the right to a burial only during this time. Extensions may only be granted on expiry of the eighty years and upon payment of the prescribed fee and production of the original deed. Graves may also be purchased in advance for future use.
Wreaths and floral tributes placed on the grave at the time of the burial may remain for approximately three weeks; after this they will be removed to tidy the grave and allow settling and reinstatement to occur.
Graves will be left to settle for up to three months, after which time topsoil and seed will be used to lawn the grave. Grave owners should not disturb the grave surface for any reason after topping up has taken place.
All High Peak Borough Councils’ cemeteries are lawn cemeteries. This means that an authorised memorial may be placed at the head of the grave only upon submission of an application form and payment of the prescribed fee. No other memorial items, including kerbs, will be permitted on any grave.
Glass and ceramic (pottery) containers and items, kerbs, fencing, railings and gravel should never be placed on or around the grave for safety reasons and will be removed without notice. Trees, shrubs and plants (other than spring flowering bulbs) should not be planted on any grave. The Council may remove any of these items without notice.
If items are to be placed on the grave as a temporary memorial (e.g. a plant in a plastic pot or a cross) they should be placed at the head of the grave on the area set aside for the headstone or on the base of the headstone – and not on the grave itself.
If the grave deed owner wishes, the grave may be permanently marked at the head by an approved natural stone (including marble) memorial OR stone flower container. Memorials should not be placed on graves for six months after any burial to allow reinstatement and any settling to occur.
The placing of a memorial headstone or other memorial item on a grave without permission may result in the item being removed without notice.
Applications for the Council’s permission to erect a memorial are usually made via the memorial mason acting on behalf of the grave deed owner. It is important that these applications accurately quote the grave number, memorial size, colour, material, construction and installation technique, and address and phone number of the purchaser and monumental mason. Applications should always be submitted before the memorial is manufactured, as a refusal may be extremely costly or distressing. Any memorial that does not fall within our regulations will be individually assessed. NAMM approved ground anchor fixings must be used.
Once a memorial has been erected, the grave deed owner or their next of kin will be held responsible for the future maintenance and safety of the memorial.
Any memorial considered unsafe by the Council will be made safe (this may involve laying the memorial flat if necessary). Attempts will then be made to contact the owner to repair the memorial. It must then, without due delay, be repaired professionally by an approved memorial mason at the owners expense. Failure to do this will result in the memorial being removed from the cemetery.
The Council accepts no responsibility for any damage to memorials as the memorials are placed in the cemetery at the owners risk. We therefore recommend that you have your memorial professionally inspected and repaired if necessary by a memorial mason at least every five years and that grave deed owner insures their memorial against all risks. Your memorial mason or the Council can give you information about memorial insurance.
Should the grave deed owner change address it is essential that the cemetery service is immediately informed. This helps us to contact you if any future work is required to your grave or memorial.
The purchase of a grave confers no other right to the deed owner than that of burial in the grave plot. High Peak Borough Council retain ownership of the grave throughout the 80-year period of the deed and therefore retain responsibility for grave (but not memorial) maintenance and safety.
Copies of our cemetery regulations are kept at the Council Offices, Hayfield Road, Chapel-en-le-Frith, Buxton Town Hall and Glossop Municipal Buildings.
If you require any further information please contact us at Council Offices, Hayfield Road, Chapel-en-le-Frith, High Peak, SK23 0QJ.