Cemeteries and funerals

Brentwood Borough Council has two operational cemeteries:

London Road cemetery

5 London Road, Brentwood, Essex, CM14 4QW

This cemetery is closed to new full interments (burials), only interments in pre-purchased grave spaces are accepted. There is a large area available for cremated remains interments. Please note that the chapel is not available for use.

You can see the layout of the cemetery and where the different sections are in the London Road Cemetery Map (PDF).

Woodman Road cemetery

Woodman Road, Brentwood, Essex, CM14 5AU

Woodman Road Cemetery can accept both full burials and cremated remains interments. A small chapel is also available.

New above ground vaults are now available for the interment of cremated remains, as are niches within a columbarium.

The toilets at Woodman Road Cemetery will only be available for use when funerals are taking place.

You can see the layout of the cemetery and where the different sections are in the Woodman Road Cemetery Map (PDF).

Lorne Road cemetery is the oldest cemetery in the Borough and is now closed to full burials. It has been given over to a nature reserve and is still open to visitors. You can see the layout of the cemetery and where the different sections are in the Lorne Road Cemetery Map (PDF).

Visiting the cemeteries

The cemeteries are open to the public everyday throughout the year.

For vehicle access they are open everyday from 7am to 4:30pm in the winter and from 7:30am to 7pm in the summer, or 30 minutes before dusk (whichever is earlier).

We reserve the right to close the cemetery on any day should circumstances so warrant.

Parking

Although there is public parking on site, this is restricted. There is no dedicated disabled parking at this time. If you have any specific requirements to be able to access a graveside, contact the Cemeteries Department. There is a one way system in operation around Woodman Road Cemetery and we ask users of the site to respect and abide by this system. When parking in Woodman Road Cemetery or London Road Cemetery, you should be considerate to other users.

For rules and regulations regarding the cemeteries, funerals, Exclusive Right of Burial and memorials please see our Cemetery Regulations (PDF).

Please also see our Cemetery Management Plan 2016-2021 (PDF) for Woodman Road and London Road Cemeteries.

Bereavement support

For those dealing with bereavement and grief there are support groups and publications which may be helpful.

• Bereavement Support Group
• Cruse Bereavement Care
• Grief Journey
• The Compassionate Friends
• Survivors of Bereavement by Suicide
• Stillbirth & Neonatal Death Charity
• Child Death Helpline
• Child Bereavement UK

You can use our Cemetery records search to find out where someone is buried and date of burial, though not all of the older records are held electronically.

Cemetery records search

We can help people trying to locate lost relatives who have been buried in one of our cemeteries. To make an enquiry, call us on 01277 312500, option 2.

You can also search records in the Essex Record Office where you can find scanned records of burial records by using their SEAX system.

Book a funeral

Funerals at the cemeteries are usually booked via a funeral director, but the interment (burial) of cremated remains (ashes) can be arranged directly through the our Cemeteries administration on 01277 312500.

Funerals can take place Monday to Friday, from 9am to 2pm (1:30pm on Fridays) with at least five working days notice.

Interment forms must be submitted to the cemeteries administration, along with the burial certificate, or cremated remains certificate in the case of ashes interments, at least three working days before the funeral.

Ashes must be interred in a sealed solid wooden casket deemed suitable by us. The scattering or pouring of ashes is not permitted. The casket must measure no more than 1 foot (30 cm) square. Ashes interments in cardboard or veneered wood caskets or containers are not permitted.

For costs for a new plot for ashes or a full burial, view Burial Plots.

Funerals must be paid for in advance and can now be paid online, either by a funeral directors for any type of interment, or by a family for a private ashes interment.

Pay for a burial

You will need the plot details and the date of the interment confirmed by us before paying.

The difference in fees regarding burials for residents and non-residents are in relation to the deceased. If the deceased lived in the Brentwood borough at the time of their death or spent at least 75% of their life living in the borough then the resident fees apply.

Memorials can be placed on graves, full burial plots and cremated remains plots. Inscriptions can be made on vault and niche plaques.

Applications for memorials on grass plots need to be submitted to us for approval, for any changes or additions to a memorial, by NAMM or BRAMM registered masons. Fees are payable online by the stone mason making the application. For memorial applications, other than additional inscriptions to existing memorials, a diagram of the proposed memorial needs to be uploaded with the application.

Any alteration or addition to a memorial must be applied for online. For cleaning and re-gilding where no changes are made, or for re-fixing of a memorial that has moved, an application is not needed.

Applications for inscriptions on vaults and niches within a columbarium can be applied for online by the Exclusive Right of Burial (ERB) holder for that plot. All inscription requests must be submitted to us for approval, and payment must be made at the time of submitting the online application.

The inscription will be arranged by us with a third party, and a proof of the inscription sent to the ERB holder to agree before the plaque is ordered. In the case of subsequent interments in a vault or niche, the names of ALL of the deceased interred within must be put on the application as a new plaque will be put in place of the original (additional inscriptions are not automatically added onto the original plaque).

We will only accept online memorial applications (except in exceptional circumstances and at the discretion of the service supervisor). If you're unsure of the grave number, Exclusive Right of Burial holder or what needs to be included on the form, contact the office before submitting the form by calling 01277 312500 or emailing depotadmin@brentwood.gov.uk.

Apply for a memorial for grass plots (to be submitted by Stonemasons).

Apply for a memorial for vaults and columbarium (to be submitted by Exclusive Right of Burial holders).

Regulations

View our Memorial Size Regulations (PDF) which outline the maximum sizes allowed on grass plot memorials.

View our Cemetery Regulations (PDF) which states what may and may not be placed on a grave, and permissions around memorials themselves. 

Under Section 46 of the Public Health (Control of Disease) Act 1984 we have a duty to bury any person who has died or ‘found to be dead’ in the Brentwood area in any case ‘where it appears to the local authority that no suitable arrangements for the disposal of the body have been or are being made’.

This means that we are responsible for making sure that anyone who dies in (or is found deceased in) Brentwood is properly buried or cremated if suitable arrangements have not been made.

We are also responsible for making sure that anyone who dies while being provided with accommodation under Part III of the National Assistance Act 1984 is buried or cremated properly.

If the Council arrange a funeral, we can recover the costs from the estate of the person who has died (the deceased), if an estate is in existence.

Unless we know that the deceased wanted to be cremated, we will arrange a burial. The deceased will be removed from the place of death and stored at an appropriate location. The funeral director will provide a dignified funeral, including a suitable basic coffin, and will be taken to the cemetery in a motor hearse with four bearers and leader.

The funeral will be conducted in a respectable way so that anyone who sees it, could not see it as being different from any other funeral service.

We will not usually become involved if funeral arrangements have already been made or the funeral has already taken place. Anyone making arrangements with a funeral director will be responsible for any costs involved.

Upon completion of the burial/ interment the Council will also make arrangements for a suitable memorial stone to be placed on the grave.

Help with funeral costs

If you are having trouble paying for a funeral that you have arranged, you may be able to get assistance to help you with the costs:

• Bereavement Support Payment if your spouse or civil partner has died
• Guardian's Allowance if you're bringing up a child whose parents have died

• Institute of Cemetery And Crematorium Management
• What To Do After Someone Dies
• Essex County Council - Birth, Ceremonies and Death
• Help and Advice - Probate