Burials

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When someone dies it can be helpful to have a final resting place which means something to the family and were you can go and visit. It is an important part of grieving to have a permanent place to remember those we love.

All three churches have space for the burial of cremated remains and St Mary-the-Less, Allerton Bywater is still open for full burials. Although St Mary's Kippax not have space for new full burials it is possible to make arrangements with Leeds City Council for full burials at the new cemetery near to church. Swillington churchyard is now closed to burials although there is space for the burial of cremated remains. Where there is an existing grave with space it is possible to have a burial in any of our churches as long as you have the legal right to use the grave.

Anyone who is resident in the parish may choose to be buried in the churchyard of their parish of residence - regardless of their religious belief. Notice must be given to the Rector or Team Vicar who will indicate where the burial will take place. There are statutory fees to pay whether or not the burial is conducted by clergy or by someone else (although most choose a religious ceremony). If your loved one has moved outside of the parish recently, for instance to be looked after in a care home it still may be possible to be buried in the parish church at the discretion of clergy.

The first thing once you are happy with the location is to contact the church and fix a date with us - see the contact page. Sometimes full burials take place directly after a service in church but often ashes are buried at a later date from the funeral. If there was no funeral you may wish to talk to the clergy team about having an extended graveside service so there is more of an opportunity to celebrate and remember the deceased's life. We are flexible about the day and time and often have burials at weekends including Saturday's so working families can be in attendance, Part of the preparation may be putting a service together. Depending on what you wish our clergy team will help put a service together for you. We like to make it personal, alongside the traditional prayers and informal words depending on what you wish. Often we will choose a bible passage to read. Below is a sample of the kind of service you may wish to have.

You do not need to have a monument ready for the day of the burial but if it is a burial of cremated remains you may wish to coordinate with a stone mason to have a plaque ready for the day so it can be laid in place. There are different requirements depending on which church the burial is taking place at. All monuments require permission from the clergy team before they are commissioned. The stone mason will usually create the paperwork for you. Monuments need to follow the directions of the Chancellor of Leeds Diocese. Allerton Bywater and Kippax use the application form supplied by the diocese. At Swillington there is a special application form for the Garden of Remembrance as these monuments are provided to a specific specification by G.B. Newells of Garforth (G.B. Newell of Nine Lands Lane, Garforth, Leeds, LS25 1NT. Tel: 0113 287 2356). The rules and application forms are available in the links below. There are also associated fees to pay for the monument which the stone mason will collect and include in their fees. You can view the church fees for monuments by following the link below. If a head stone is being commissioned for a full burial at Allerton Bywater, it is recommended that at least six months is left before it is installed to allow for the grave to settle. All monuments must be professionally installed.

There are usually two sets of fees to be paid. The first is for the burial itself and will depend on whether it is a full burial (only available at Allerton Bywater) or a burial of cremated remains. The fee for burial of cremated remains which includes preparation of the grave itself is £248 (2024). The cost to church of installing a tablet for cremated remains is £89 (2024) but this does not included the cost of the momument itself which the stone mason will advise you about. The fees themselves will be sent to you either by clergy or a stone mason or funeral director if they are making arrangements on your behalf.  You can pay the fee online or by BACS. Payment details are on the donations page of the website (see above). 

There will always be someone authorised from church at a burial in our churchyard so that proper records can be kept as we have a legal duty to maintain burial registers. If a member of clergy is taking the service they will meet you at the graveside although sometimes if the weather is poor or we feel we need some extra time we may meet you in church. If the service is a full burial the funeral director will look after you and bring the church the official paperwork, which is a green form. The church uses this to update our records and notify The Registrar that a burial has taken place. If you have come to church for a burial of cremated remains please bring the deceased in a container from which their cremated remains can be poured. We are not allowed to bury caskets or urns. You will also need to bring the certificate of cremation. This is so we can keep our records up-to-date. At the graveside some prayers will be said alongside any words the family or friends may wish to say. Sometimes we may play music or read poetry. During the service the person will be committed to God's care  and the cremated remains will be poured into the grave. This is something a friend or family member may wish to do. Once the service has ended we will make sure the grave is filled in and you may wish to come back to lay flowers and spend some time saying goodbye. The service for the burial of cremated remains takes around 15 minutes.

Grief affects each of us differently. If you would like to talk through how you are feeling then our clergy team or pastoral visitors would be happy to visit and provide support. All of our churches have a place to light a candle in memory of someone we love who has died and you are welcome to attend any of our services and light a candle. We also pray for all of the families who are bereaved. The deceased name will be read out at our Sunday services around the time of the burial. You will also be invited to our yearly memorial service where the names of those who have died either recently or in the past are read out and a candle is lit in their memory. This takes place at the end of October or early November.