Coffin & Casket
In addition to our standard high quality coffin we can supply any type of alternative coffin or casket required.
These alternatives can be wicker, willow, bamboo or sea grass. Other options include coloured coffins or caskets and American style caskets.
Burial or Cremation
Burials
You will need to consider initially where the funeral service is to be held (i.e. Church or Cemetery Chapel prior to interment, or simply at the graveside), whether the service is to be religious or non-religious, any hymns and/or music required, whether family flowers only are desired and donations, in lieu, for a chosen charity, which cemetery or churchyard the interment is to take place in and whether an existing grave is available or a new grave is required. Our funeral directors will provide guidance and assistance to you at all times.
Cremations
When arranging a funeral, particularly a cremation, there needs to be a decision made regarding which crematorium to use. At present the county of Northumberland has only one crematorium. This is Cowpen Crematorium in Blyth and can seat approximately 50 people. There is no organ at this crematorium and the service times are every 45 minutes, but it does have wheel chair access.
West Road Crematorium is the primary crematorium in Newcastle-upon-Tyne and has two chapels (the East and the West chapel), both with wheel chair access. Service times are every 45 minutes here also and only the West chapel has an organ.
Other crematoria in the region are Whitley Bay crematorium & Tynemouth crematorium. Service times here are every 45 minutes.
All the crematoria mentioned here have a garden of remembrance. Cremated remains (ashes) can be scattered on the garden or removed by the funeral director to be scattered somewhere else. Ashes can also be interred (buried) if required.
For more information please contact us.
Green Funerals
Woodland Burials
Woodland burial grounds are natural settings such as meadows or wooded areas, which offer more natural, beautiful resting places.woodland funerals tend to involve the planting of a natural memorial, such as a tree and the placing of a simple wooden or bronze plaque instead of a traditional headstone. There is also a focus on preserving the natural beauty of the environment and encouraging native wildlife and flowers.
Memorials
Monumental Memorials
Memorials for full interments or cremated remains including inscriptions are carried out for John Grenfell & Son by the local company Bart Endean.
Bart Endean is a small family run business. As they have been for over 100 years. Employing traditional masonry skills and modern techniques balanced with the sensitive and sympathetic understanding of the pain and loss and the need to remember and commemorate
Bart Endean
Unit 4F
Whitehouse Farm Centre
Morpeth
Northumberland
NE61 6AW
Tel. 01670 789777
www.bartendean.co.uk/memorials
Ashes
Committals for Cremated Remains
After the cremation, the ashes are given to the family of the deceased for disposal as they wish. Under current codes of cremation practice, non-ferrous metals are not salvaged. Disposal of cremation ashes is typically done in one of the following ways:
- Burial in small cremation plots
- Interment in a family grave (requires permission)
- Scattering of ashes in a garden of remembrance or similar named environment
- Scattering in another favourite place or at sea
- Storage in cremation urns or cremation keepsakes
In addition to books of remembrance, some crematoria and cemeteries have special cremation memorials including the following:
- Benches
- Remembrance through planted flower bulbs
- Memorial plaques
- Hymn and service book dedications
- Memorial vases and tablets
- Memorial vaults
Any of these can provide a comforting reminder of the life and personality of a loved one and a valuable focus for future contemplation and remembrance.
Where can you scatter human ashes?
Cremation laws (the Cremation Act 1930) put no restriction on where people can scatter the ashes of their loved ones once they′ve been cremated. The only constraints on scattering ashes are likely to be those relating to littering or their placement on private land without gaining permission. In practice, though few people are likely to have the contents of their cremation urn put into fireworks and launched into the sky like writer Hunter S. Thompson, the only limits are likely to be family wishes, available budgets and the imagination.