Skip to main content

Cemeteries and estates

Cotswold District Council own and maintain the following cemeteries in Cirencester:

  • Chesterton Cemetery
  • Stratton Cemetery

Our cemeteries are bound by the rules and regulations of the ‘The Local Authorities' Cemeteries Order 1977.

Cemetery opening times for visitors:
Monday - Friday 7.30am to 8pm (Summer hours) to 5pm (Winter hours)
Saturday 8am to 5pm
Sunday and Bank Holidays 10am to 5pm

Burials administration team

The Burials Administration Team is located at Moreton Area Centre, Moreton in Marsh, GL56 0AZ.

For information regarding our cemetery services, please contact the burials team:

The Burials team can:

  • Search for relatives buried at either Chesterton or Stratton Cemetery
  • Advise about reserving and purchasing a grave space
  • Help to make funeral arrangements for the interment of cremated remains, without the services of a Funeral Director
  • Answer general enquiries about Chesterton or Stratton Cemetery

Rules and regulations

Plot 29 at Chesterton Cemetery

Plot 29 opened in 2012 and the following information sets out the standards that Cotswold District Council expects in relation to any interment undertaken there. All new graves are laid to lawn, with plantings confined to the memorial end of the grave.

There are two reasons for this:

  1. It makes the cemetery more tidy and attractive, as this is easier to maintain
  2. It is easier and safer for visitors to walk around to find a particular grave


In order to maintain this standard, requirements are detailed below:

  • Graves are allocated on the basis of the next available plot in the row
  • Requests to choose a grave will be considered, but the choice will be limited to the available plots within the row
  • All planting is restricted to a maximum 12 inches from the memorial end of the
    grave
  • No kerbstones are permitted
  • No grave mounds are permitted
  • No individual gardens can be planted
  • Wooden crosses are not permitted

For all other plots within the cemetery the same regulations will apply but planting is restricted to a soil border (18 inches maximum) at the memorial end of graves.

Should any contraventions be found, the Burials Administration Team would contact the grave owner requesting the grave be returned to its original state. Failure to do so will result in the council removing said items and returning the grave to its original state as detailed above.

Fees and charges for Chesterton and Stratton cemeteries

1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024

For the interment in a grave (including the reopening of a grave) Fee
Of the body of still-born child or a child whose age at the time of death did not exceed 16 years No charge
Of the body of a person whose age at the time of death exceeded 16 years £860
Charge for extra depth (interment at a depth exceeding seven feet) £380
Additional fee for the interment of a coffin/casket exceeding seven feet two inches long or 32 inches wide £360
Interment of cremated remains in a burial garden, a grave or a vault, in respect of which an exclusive right of burial has been granted £270
Interment of a body part in a grave £360

Interment fees

The fees indicated above:

(a)        include the digging of the grave

(b)        apply when the interment is made within the following hours:

  • April - September: Monday - Friday, 9am - 3pm
  • October - March: Monday - Friday, 9am - 2pm

(c)        apply when the interment is made on the certificate of a coroner or registered medical practitioner that immediate interment is necessary.

Exclusive rights of burial - granted for a period of 50 years Fee
For the exclusive right of burial in an earthen grave nine feet by four feet £1120
For the exclusive right of burial in an earthen grave four and a half feet by four feet (grave of a still-born child or a child not exceeding the age of 12 years) £850
For the exclusive right of burial of cremated remains in a burial garden £270
Memorials and inscriptions Fee
For the right to erect a memorial on an earthen grave in respect of which the exclusive right of burial has been granted (this fee includes the first inscription) £495
For the right to erect a memorial on a cremated remains grave in a burial garden in respect of which the exclusive right of burial has been granted (this fee includes the first inscription) £160
For each inscription after the first / Replacement memorials £105
Miscellaneous Fee
For the use of the Chesterton Cemetery Chapel £170
Additional fee for the interment of a coffin outside normal hours £190
Additional fee for the interment of cremated remains outside normal hours £80
To transfer the ownership of exclusive rights of burial £90
For a copy of Deed of Grant for exclusive rights of burial £50
Search of burial fees and/or records covering a period of one year £25
Search of burial fees and/or records covering a period beyond one year £60
Scattering of cremated remains £80

 

Researching burial records of a loved one

We hold burial records for Chesterton Cemetery and Stratton Cemetery only.

Records for all other burials are held by the Local Parish or Town Council or by the church if the interment was in a churchyard.

For guidance on how to find where a burial has taken place please view the Gloucestershire archive guidance document.

Green burial

A green burial is designed to sensitively lay to rest someone in an ecologically friendly way.

For more information about green funerals, types of coffins and woodland burial sites, please contact the:

Stratton Cemetery

Stratton Cemetery has reached full capacity for new full burials. We will be unable to accommodate full interments other than those into reserved grave spaces, interment of Cremated Remains or the reopening of an existing grave space where the grave has been prepared to a double or treble depth.

Trees and Benches

We have now reached full capacity for memorial benches and trees at both Chesterton and Stratton cemeteries. Therefore, any future requests for memorial benches and trees will not be permitted.

Related Pages