Green Burial Site

Green site entrance

Tavistock Town Council has been providing the increasingly popular green burial service at our Plymouth Road cemetery from 1999 with the first burial taking place in January of that year. The concept of a green burial site is to provide a peaceful resting place in a manner which is friendly towards nature, wildlife and the environment.

Our site allows for remains to be interred in consecrated land using biodegradable materials such as a cardboard or wicker coffin. The burial is simple with the area being left much as nature intended without headstones or clearly marked out graves. There are two oak trees which have been planted to mark the entrance to the site and a dry stone wall is being built and almost completed by Tavistock Town Council staff, to define the site from the main cemetery giving the appearance of natural meadowland. All graves are marked with a small disk and are individually numbered which allows our cemetery assistent to keep a plan of the area to enable family and friends to locate where their loved ones are buried.Dry stone wall defining green burial site

As many families these days now move around and are not always based in the same area this can cause problems with grave maintenance, a green burial site requires no regular maintenance from family and friends to secure an everlasting dignified place of rest as nature takes over. The grass is mowed around twice a year as required to encourage and protect the local wildlife & is left as meadowland providing a natural peaceful place to pay your respects.

There is a book of remembrance located in the cemetery chapel to allow a memorial to be recorded, alternatively you may like to consider providing a wooden seat with memorial plaque to commemorate a loved one.

For further information please contact the cemetery supervisor  

Tel: 01822 612799 Email: worksdepot@tavistock.gov.uk