Somerset West and Taunton Bereavement Services

We understand that bereavement means you must make decisions at a time when you are least prepared to deal with them emotionally.

Our staff can offer helpful and impartial advice regarding funeral arrangements and memorial options. We hope our information will help you.

Our aim is to provide a caring, sensitive and professional service to bereaved families and their loved ones, offering support and advice about funerals, memorials and our cemeteries and crematorium.

We are always here to help.

Price information

Bereavement services fees and charges – Taunton Crematorium

Taunton Crematorium fees and charges

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About Taunton Crematorium

Arranging a funeral can be daunting as there is a lot to think about. At Taunton Crematorium every service is unique and we will work with you to personalise your service. This makes sure we capture the personality of your loved one and remember them the way they wanted.

Find out more about services at Taunton Crematorium.

Baby memorial Garden

Tucked away in a secluded location within Taunton cemetery, the baby memorial garden allows for quiet contemplation in a peaceful setting. It is specifically designed with children in mind so that people of all ages can mourn the loss of a loved one in a comfortable environment.

There are a number of carefully chosen memorial options available, so please speak to our team if you wish to discuss the memorial and design options available to you.

Located in the garden is a post box to encourage everyone to write letters to those they wish to remember.

The garden is complemented by the ‘Dear Mum’ booklet which can be provided upon request from the Bereavement Services Team.

Available options

Memorials and headstones

If you would like to arrange for a memorial to be installed on a purchased grave, please download and print out the application form. You will need to fill in the first page before submitting it to your chosen memorial mason for completion.

A fee is payable for erection of a stone or additional inscriptions.

Deciding on the type of headstone you would like can be difficult. In Taunton Cemetery the location of your grave space will depend on the type of memorial you require. Our cemeteries have different dimensions, for each memorial style, which you may wish to consider when applying to purchase the Exclusive Right of Burial.

You can find more memorial options here

Memorial mason

All Stone Masons working in our cemeteries are registered with our Memorial Masons Scheme and most work quite frequently with us.

Book of Remembrance

The book is displayed in our Chapel of Remembrance where families and friends can leave a lasting memorial of their loved ones.

Visitors to the chapel can view the book every day of the year including weekends and bank holidays.

The book is in quarterly volumes, handmade in high quality materials with lettering by highly skilled craftsmen.

The Book of Remembrance is opened at the appropriate date each day of the year. It is displayed in a protective case, with entries being seen on each anniversary of that date. Our staff can turn the page for those unable to visit on the anniversary date, but please check with the office beforehand.

Memorial cards and miniature books are also available to order with a copy of the desired inscription.

Should you wish to submit a Book of Remembrance Application, please make sure entries are received by the following dates.

Month the entry and month application must be received by

• Entry January – March, submit by end of November
• Entry April – June, submit by end of February
• Entry July – September, submit by end of May
• Entry October – December, submit by end of August

Natural burial copse and woodland memorial walkway

Natural burials and the interment and scattering of cremated remains within natural sections of the grounds at Taunton Deane Cemetery and Crematorium are now available.

The purpose of the sections

The natural burial copse allows for full burial at single depth for those who wish for a natural and non-traditional grave. Burials in this section are permitted within a range of coffins made from natural materials available on the market. To maintain this area in its natural environment, traditional memorials are not permitted, and the area will be maintained as required during the year. A simple wooden memorial to the maximum size of 60cm by 30cm may be permitted upon full specification being provided and authorised by the Crematorium. Experienced staff can guide you with regards to where a memorial tree or shrub may be planted, together with the variety of species to suit the area. Should further family burials be required, there will be the opportunity to reserve graves side by side.

The woodland memorial walkway has been created for the placement of ashes within a natural environment in a different area of the Crematorium. This is to create additional natural habitats for the variety of wildlife that live within our grounds. Interments are permitted within a range of urns or caskets made from natural materials available on the market, or can be scattered in a designated scatter section. To maintain this area in its natural environment, a limited range of memorials and above ground vaults are permitted, and the area will be maintained as required during the year.

How to apply

Please contact the Crematorium Office or speak with your Funeral Director to arrange a suitable time and date for the burial, interment or scattering to take place. If you would like to select the grave space beforehand, please visit the Crematorium Office and a member of staff will be able to show you the available areas.

Burials

If you are considering a burial for your loved one, there are a few different things to consider. Please contact the Bereavement Services Team if you are unclear of anything or wish to discuss it in more detail.

You will first need to decide which cemetery you wish to use. We maintain and administer five cemeteries in the Taunton area.

They are:

• St James Cemetery, Staplegrove Road, Taunton (no new graves available)
• St Mary’s old Cemetery, Wellington Road, Taunton (no new graves available)
• St Mary’s new Cemetery, Wellington Road, Taunton (full graves available)
• Wellington Cemetery, Rockwell Green, Wellington (full graves and niches for cremated remains available)
• Taunton Deane Crematorium and Cemetery, Wellington New Road, Taunton (full graves, cremated remains graves and memorials for remembrance available)

The Garden of Rest

The Garden of Rest is a large, open landscape in the Crematorium grounds. Ashes can be interred here on their own or with loved ones previously interred. A small grave is prepared and the ashes are loosely interred (no caskets or urns are used). Records are kept to show the general area of any interment but it is not possible to identify the exact location of individual cremated remains.

The Garden of Rest provides a focal point for visitors and the ground is not marked by a memorial. This allows the lawn to be kept clear. It is possible to have an interment behind a memorial tablet, or next to an existing tree. It is also possible to have ashes interred within the garden if the cremation did not take place at Taunton Crematorium.

If you decide to witness an interment, a member of our Crematorium staff can conduct a short service at the graveside for you. Please contact the Crematorium office to arrange a suitable date and time for the service to take place. If you do not want to witness the interment, please let your funeral director or the Crematorium office know and this can be arranged without you being present. You can choose the location of the grave, but you would need to do so a couple of days before the interment takes place.

Public Health Funerals

If a person dies anywhere in Somerset West and Taunton area, without family or funeral instructions, we will arrange and pay for a funeral arrangements. Read more about Public Health Funerals

Exhumations

Exhumation means removing the remains or ashes of a deceased person from the ground, whether they have been buried or cremated.

Possible reasons you wish to exhume remains include:

• to move the remains from the original grave site to a new grave
• deepen an existing grave for a further burial
• send them for cremation

You will need permission of the owner of the Exclusive Rights of Burial. It is possible that the owner may be deceased and in the grave, in which case you will need the authorisation from the next of kin. This may be more than one person. For example, all surviving children of the owner have the same rights to the grave, it does not automatically transfer or fall to the oldest sibling

When you have the correct permission from the owner, you will need to contact the burial authority and request their permission. You will also need to find out if the burial took place in consecrated ground. If so, you will need to contact the diocese (the church authority) with your request. There is a fee associated with this process, regardless of whether your request is granted.

You will need to complete an Application for Exhumation which must be signed by the burial authority. This application is submitted to the Ministry of Justice for consent. There is no charge. But there may be a fee to pay the burial authority and you will need to check this with them.

When authorisation is granted by all relevant parties, an exhumation licence will be issued confirming that the exhumation can take place.

The exhumation will be carried out either late at night or in the early hours of the morning before the burial grounds are open to the public. You can choose to be present, but this is not always recommended.

Once the exhumation has taken place, the remains will be transferred into a new casket before being transported to their new destination.

Useful contacts

Please contact us with any enquiries you have about our cemeteries or crematorium:

• email us: crematorium@somerset.gov.uk
• phone us on: 01823 356381
• write to us: Cemeteries and Crematorium Office, Wellington New Road, Taunton, Somerset, TA1 5NE

Some useful contacts that can support you following the death of someone close and to help you to understand your grief and cope with your loss.