Woodland Burial Ground

The Bluebell Area in Springtime

Woodland burial grounds are becoming increasingly popular here in the UK. Although I love spending my spare time photographing cemeteries and generally wandering around them, I have until recently, thought I would prefered to be cremated. I didn't want to wind up in one of the many neglected and sadly forgotten graves, that I encounter all too often for my liking.

Rose Tree Walk ~ January

So yesterday we went on a visit to the Epping Woodland burial ground in Essex.
The staff there were very helpful and friendly and offered to show us around and explain exactly what is involved in opting for a woodland burial.
The Epping site is situated on the edge of North Weald in Essex and is an unconsecrated mature wooded area ~ not all woodland burial sites are mature and so they may still appear very open and field like by comparison.

The Woodland Hall

The Woodland Hall, is where the service is held and it has beautiful panoramic windows that look out into the woodland beyond. Bird feeders encourage the wildlife and we saw many squirrels scampering about outside. The Gathering Hall is a similar smaller building next door and may be used for the reception after the burial.

  

Full body remains or Ashes only may be interred and the method of service to be held is entirely up to the individual. So you are completely free to choose a conventional religious burial and have the ground consecrated if you wish, or a Humanist service for those who are Atheist, or even the option of just having your own family, friends and loved ones conduct the service for you.

Most funeral services I have attended in recent years, have been conventional and so often I hear the Vicar remark upon the fact that they are conducting a ceremony for someone they never knew and that always appear an odd and empty sentiment to me, but unfortunately all too common these days.


All plots are sold as double plots and may be marked with a wooden memorials . A total of 18 plots will eventually surround the one tree of your choice ~ however, after the first five interments around the particular tree, there is a period of five years before the next
burials can take place. This allows the tree and its root system a sufficient time to regenerate. Ashes are buried within the circle.

For more information, please click on the bold type script for a link to these sites.

On Unconsecrated Ground

Bunhill originates from the term 'Bone Hill' and the area was associated with burials from Saxon times.
In 1685, it was set apart as a common cemetery for the interment of bodies for which there wasn't room in their church cemeteries during the Plague. However it wasn't used for that purpose when Mr.Tindal leased it and converted into a burial place for those who practised outside the Traditional Church.

So it is a site of great historical and religious significance, as Bunhill Fields is unconsecrated ground that has been used for centuries as a burial place for Nonconformists, Dissenters, and other people who died outside of the Church of England.

The cemetery was used until 1855 for approximately 120,000 burials, when it was taken over by the City of London in 1867 for use as a green space. Today, about half of Bunhill Fields is a park and the rest remains a fence-enclosed cemetery.
Bunhill Fields graveyard was damaged by German bombing during World War II but reconstructed in 1960.

It is the last resting place for an estimated 120,000 bodies, including some of Britain's most famous Nonconformists:

•William Blake (1757-1827), poet, and his wife Catherine (1762-1831)

•John Owen (1616-83), Congregational minister

•Susanna Wesley (1669-1742), mother of John and Charles Wesley:
 founders of the Methodist Church
•Daniel Defoe (1661-1731), author of Robinson Crusoe
•John Bunyan (1628-1688), author of The Pilgrim's Progress
•Isaac Watts (1674-1748), hymnwriter
•George Fox (1624-1691), founder of the Society of Friends (Quakers) - in the Quaker Gardens, next to the Bunhill Fields Meeting House
Many of the graves are packed closely together, giving an idea of how London's burial places looked before large cemeteries further from the centre of London opened from the 1830s onwards.

Bunhill today is a popular lunchtime spot for office workers wishing to escape the hustle and bustle of the surrounding City.

You cannot wander amongst the tombs as there are railings around them with padlocked gates, but there are benches to sit upon and the squirrels are charming and incredibily friendly. 

Click the link for Bunhill Fields Cemetery Map