The Chancellor of the Diocese has issued new Regulations from 20 October 2025 concerning Churchyards and Gardens of Remembrance, which include the application form (Schedule 3 of the Regulations) and detailed guidance on:
- Memorials which may be authorised by incumbents without a faculty under delegated powers from the Chancellor
- Memorials for which a faculty is required
- Designs and features not permitted
- Flowers
- Gardens of Remembrance:
- Creation
- Memorial plaques
- Re-use
View the Diocessan Churchyard Regulations (Oct 2025)
There is an accompanying Guidance Note from the Diocesan Registry.
PCCs can apply for a Faculty for a localised set of Churchyard Regulations using this Application Form.
You can contact the Diocesesan Registry at:
Mr L Coley
c/o Stone King LLP Boundary House,
91 Charterhouse Street
London EC1M 6HR
0207 796 1007
registry@stoneking.co.uk
Churchyard matters:
A. Installing a memorial in a churchyard
If you wish to apply to install a memorial that is: Entirely consistent with the Regulations, you should complete Churchyard Memorial Application Form in Schedule 3 to the Regulations and then send it to the local priest of the churchyard concerned.
If you believe it could be inconsistent in any way with the Regulations, you should complete Churchyard Memorial Application Form in Schedule 3 to the Regulations and send it to the Registry (details above):
B. Burial of Ashes and Installing a memorial in a churchyard
The burial of cremated remains in a churchyard will require a faculty if in a location other than an existing grave or a garden of remembrance created by faculty. Please contact the Registry: registry@stoneking.co.uk for more information and an application form.
If you wish to install a memorial for cremated remains, you should complete the Churchyard Memorial Application Form in schedule 3 to the Regulations and then send it to the local priest of the churchyard concerned.
If you believe it could be inconsistent in any way with the Regulations, you should complete the Churchyard Memorial Application Form in Schedule 3 to the Regulations and send it to the Registry (details above)
C. Reservation of Gravespaces (for burial)
If you wish to reserve a gravespace in a churchyard please complete the Gravespace Application Form and send it to the Diocesan Registrar together with a cheque for the fee (currently £342.60 {as at 1 January 2025} and cheques should be made payable to “Stone King LLP”). The Gravespace Public Notice will also need to be displayed for 28 days – guidance of where to display it is included within the Notice.
N.B. All applications to reserve a grave space will be subject to the condition that a single payment of £200 must be paid to the PCC (as a contribution towards the maintenance of the Churchyard) and the faculty will not be issued until a receipt from the PCC confirming that it has been paid is submitted to the Diocesan Registrar (details above).
To assist those enquiring about reserving a grave space, the Registry has produced a guidance note.
D. Reservation of Cremation Plot (for burial of ashes) in a Garden of Remembrance
If you wish to reserve a cremation plot in a Garden of Remembrance please complete the Application Form and send it to the Diocesan Registrar together with a cheque for the fee (currently £342.60 {as at 1 January 2025} and cheques should be made payable to “Stone King LLP”). The Gravespace Public Notice will also need to be displayed for 28 days – guidance of where to display it is included within the Notice.
N.B. All applications to reserve a cremation plot will be subject to the condition that a single payment of £200 must be paid to the PCC (as a contribution towards the maintenance of the Churchyard) and the faculty will not be issued until a receipt from the PCC confirming that it has been paid is submitted to the Diocesan Registrar (see details above).
To assist those enquiring about reserving a grave space, the Registry has produced a guidance note.
E. Exhumations
If you are wishing to have human remains exhumed from within a churchyard, please complete the application form.
The Registry has prepared a guidance note to help you with this.
F. Gardens of Remembrance
Any PCC wishing to create or extend a Garden of Remembrance should read the relevant section in the Churchyard Regulations and then make an application for a Notification of Advice from the DAC via the Online Faculty System (OFS). Details of how to do this can be found on the Faculties page of the website.
The DAC will want to know:
- Where the Garden of Remembrance will be located (or extended to)
- What that part of the churchyard looks like (photographs are really helpful)
- How it will be demarked Details of the Book of Remembrance that will be in the church (and where it will go and its display case)
- Whether there will be a central marker stone (and, if so, details of its type, size, location and inscription)
- Whether individual memorial plaques will be permitted and, if so, what the template for these will be.
Any PCC wishing to create or extend a Garden of Remembrance should read the relevant section in the Churchyard Regulations and then make an application for a Notification of Advice from the DAC via the Online Faculty System (OFS). Details of how to do this can be found on the Faculties page of the website.
The DAC will want to know:
- Where the Garden of Remembrance will be located (or extended to)
- What that part of the churchyard looks like (photographs are really helpful)
- How it will be demarked Details of the Book of Remembrance that will be in the church (and where it will go and its display case)
- Whether there will be a central marker stone (and, if so, details of its type, size, location and inscription)
- Whether individual memorial plaques will be permitted and, if so, what the template for these will be.
G. Churchyards Maintenance and Safety
The Diocesan Chancellor has issued guidance on:
- Churchyards Maintenance
- Safety Memorial safety in churchyards and public cemeteries following recent developments
Any PCC wishing to create or extend a Garden of Remembrance should read the relevant section in the Churchyard Regulations and then make an application for a Notification of Advice from the DAC via the Online Faculty System (OFS). Details of how to do this can be found on the Faculties page of the website.
The DAC will want to know:
- Where the Garden of Remembrance will be located (or extended to)
- What that part of the churchyard looks like (photographs are really helpful)
- How it will be demarked Details of the Book of Remembrance that will be in the church (and where it will go and its display case)
- Whether there will be a central marker stone (and, if so, details of its type, size, location and inscription)
- Whether individual memorial plaques will be permitted and, if so, what the template for these will be.
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