Latest news with #naturalburial
Yahoo
10-08-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Farmers turn land into cemetery to raise cash
A family farm has transformed a spring barley field into a natural burial ground in an unusual attempt to raise cash. Clair Goodson, 54, warned that farms such as hers were 'up against it' following Labour's inheritance tax raid in Rachel Reeves's October Budget. As farmers are being encouraged to diversify their businesses to create sources of income, many have turned to letting out buildings, selling produce or providing holiday accommodation. However, Mrs Goodson, who runs Castle View Farm in Bottesford, Leicestershire, with her husband James, has instead turned a previously 'unproductive' plot of land into a potential gold mine. The 10-acre field has capacity for 7,500 burial spots in a tranquil setting which overlooks the Vale of Belvoir, Belvoir Castle and Lincoln. A delegated space will set families back either £500 for an ashes plot or £1,400 for a full burial – both of which Mrs Goodson pointed out were 'quite a bit cheaper' than traditional alternatives. The burial site does not feature traditional gravestones, but instead wooden plaques mark the area and are placed level with the ground. The Goodsons hope the field will offer a financial boost at a time when farms across the country are struggling. 'Farms have all got to diversify because it's not what it used to be,' she told The Telegraph. 'Farming is really tough at the moment, we are up against it all the time. [What] with the Government, the weather and prices, diversification is more important than ever.' Although their burial grounds have now been open for three years, Mrs Goodson said she was 'glad we did what we did' when they did it, ahead of the Chancellor's autumn Budget. Filled with wildflowers and 'wonderful views of the countryside', the idea to diversify was drawn up by their daughter Emily. The field's heavy clay was not suited to growing crops and has so far proven more suitable to its new use after they gained planning permission. 'It is just an easier way of bringing income from a field,' she said. 'It wasn't a particularly productive field and we just thought we would do something completely different here. We knew the views were wonderful up here and we thought a burial ground would be lovely – wonderful views was the main thing.' While it was hard raising awareness and advertising at first, Mrs Goodson said they are now up to plot 50. 'It's been a steady, slow burn. But now I've heard people in the local pub saying 'I'm going to be buried there',' she said. The land is often teeming with wildlife, including skylarks, hares and even English partridge. Mrs Goodson said: 'It's just a really peaceful place to come and reflect and visit their loved ones.' They have also had others who have left it in their will to be buried in the grounds. Mrs Goodson said their current set-up had made the area more biodiverse than if it were just being used for crops. When the 93 trees they have planted are fully grown, they also plan to install bat and owl boxes. They have already diversified the rest of their 330-acre arable farm with a livery yard of nine stables. The burial ground was more unusual, as some locals were originally sceptical at first, she said. 'We've still got lots of space, although I'm not sure we'll need it in my lifetime unless there's some sort of disaster,' she joked.
Telegraph
09-08-2025
- Business
- Telegraph
Farmers turn land into ‘natural cemetery' to raise cash
A family farm has transformed a spring barley field into a natural burial ground in an unusual bid to raise cash. Clair Goodson, 54, warned that farms such as hers were 'up against it' following Labour's inheritance tax raid in Rachel Reeves's October Budget. As farmers are being encouraged to diversify their businesses to create sources of income, many have turned to letting out buildings, selling produce or providing holiday accommodation. However Mrs Goodson, who runs Castle View Farm in Bottesford, Leicestershire, with her husband James, has instead turned a previously 'unproductive' plot of land into a potential gold mine. The 10-acre field has capacity for 7,500 burial spots in a tranquil setting which overlooks the Vale of Belvoir, Belvoir Castle and Lincoln. A delegated space will set families back either £500 for an ashes plot or £1,400 for a full burial – both of which Mrs Goodson pointed out were 'quite a bit cheaper' than traditional alternatives. The burial site does not feature traditional gravestones, but instead wooden plaques mark the area and are placed level with the ground. The Goodsons hope the field will offer a financial boost at a time when farms across the country are struggling. 'Farms have all got to diversify because it's not what it used to be,' she told the Telegraph. 'Farming is really tough at the moment, we are up against it all the time. [What] with the Government, the weather and prices; diversification is more important than ever.' Although their burial grounds have now been open for three years, Mrs Goodson said she was 'glad we did what we did' when they did it, ahead of the Chancellor's autumn Budget. Filled with wildflowers and 'wonderful views of the countryside', the idea to diversify was drawn up by their daughter Emily. The field's heavy clay was not suited to growing crops and has so far proven more suitable to its new use after they gained planning permission. 'It is just an easier way of bringing income from a field,' she said. 'It wasn't a particularly productive field and we just thought we would do something completely different here. We knew the views were wonderful up here and we thought a burial ground would be lovely – wonderful views was the main thing.' While it was hard raising awareness and advertising at first, Mrs Goodson said they are now up to plot 50. 'It's been a steady, slow burn. But now I've heard people in the local pub saying 'I'm going to be buried there'', she said. The land is often teeming with wildlife including skylarks, hares and even English partridge and Mrs Goodson said: 'It's just a really peaceful place to come and reflect and visit their loved ones.' They have also had others who have left it in their will to be buried in the grounds. Mrs Goodson said their current set up had made the area more biodiverse than if it were just being used for crops. When the 93 trees they have planted are fully grown they also plan to install bat and owl boxes. They have already diversified the rest of their 330-acre arable farm with a livery yard of nine stables. The burial ground was more unusual, as some locals were originally sceptical at first, she said. 'We've still got lots of space although I'm not sure we'll need it in my lifetime unless there's some sort of disaster,' she joked.
The Guardian
23-06-2025
- Health
- The Guardian
‘Mum kept saying she wanted to go up in a firework': Why green burials are going mainstream
'I want to become a pearl when I die - or a reef,' said Madeleine Sutcliffe. Aged 80 and suffering from lung cancer, Sutcliffe was given six months to live in January. Adam, Sutcliffe's son, is enthusiastic. 'I don't think a pearl is possible but if mum's ashes are made into an artificial reef, I'll be able to dive to it,' he said. 'Given how I feel when I dive - serene, calm and meditative - a reef is the perfect environment to remember mum.' Until recently, wanting an environmental funeral was a radical concept. Now, it's increasingly mainstream: a recent report by the National Funeral Directors Association found over 60% of families said they would be interested in investigating green funeral options - up from 56% in 2021. Even local councils are responding: the Association for Public Service Excellence recently found that over 61% of councils across the UK already provide natural or woodland burial grounds, or plan to do so in the near future - up from 44% in 2018. There are now an almost bewildering number of options available for those who want their death celebrated in a sustainable way. Some are still under development, such as decomposers that turn the body into fertile soil, fungi bodysuits that decompose the body, and egg-shaped pods in which corpses are curled and a tree planted on top. Other methods are already available in other countries: resomation - a chemical process of alkaline hydrolysis, and human composting - which involves keeping a body in a controlled environment so that remains are broken down quicker than a burial. Other complex options, such as aquamation - which yields the same results as cremation by using pressurised water, is growing in popularity, as are biodegradable urns and tree pod burials - placing a deceased person's ashes into a biodegradable pod, buried under a tree. The world's first mushroom coffin - a 'living coffin' that helps to speed up the body's decomposition and enrich the surrounding earth - is as close as a funeral home in south London. Traditional funerals are losing popularity for a range of reasons, among them, the growing awareness of the damage they do. According to the Green Burial Council, traditional burials in the United States use an estimated 4.3 million gallons of embalming fluid, 20 million board feet of hardwood (including rainforest wood), 17,000 tons of copper and bronze, and 1.6 million tons of concrete each year - all of which use vast amounts of energy to source, manufacture, process and transport. Over time, these toxins leach into the surrounding soil. Even when filtered, cremations are also damaging; their fumes emitting carbon dioxide and toxic, mercury-laden gasses. Then there's the price: traditional funerals can cost upwards of £5,000. Green burials can cost as little as £700. The fall in religiosity is also a factor: while fewer than half Britons now believe in god, belief among those aged over 80 - like Sutcliffe - has fallen from 82% in 1981 to 59% in 2021. When people are freed to make their own funeral decisions, results are often exuberantly celebratory. 'My mum had cancer for five years and kept saying that she wanted to go up in a firework,' said Caroline Murphy, of her mother, Jeanne. 'I never even knew it was a thing but after she died, we discovered that it was.' Jeanne's ashes were divided into five fireworks - four of which have already been exploded in places significant to the family. Jeanne's 14 year old granddaughter, Gabriella, loved it. 'My grandmother always said she was going to watch over us and after seeing her explode in the night sky above us, I can believe that's true,' she said. 'Each time we let a firework off, it was really joyous and celebratory. It suited her character perfectly.' But with choice, comes risk: adverts for two funeral providers were banned a few years ago after they misleadingly implied their MDF coffins were more eco-friendly than other options. Then last year, the Green Burial Council had to review their own processes after removing certification from a company called Ovum Fungi. 'Their pods initially met our certification criteria but their messaging made additional claims that were not consistent with our mission,' said Christopher Doggett. Ovum Fungi have not responded to calls from the Guardian. Rosie Inman-Cook from The Natural Death Centre is conflicted by the rise in natural burial grounds in the UK: 'There are now over 300 in the country but only 70 that we certify,' she said. 'There are real cowboys out there,' she warned. 'We get far too many calls from families whose loved ones have been buried in the wrong grave, or their coffins improperly placed in the ground, or a space in the family plot filled with the coffin of a stranger.' The Law Commission is currently consulting on alternatives to established funerary methods. But in the absence of regulation, experts are concerned that families are being exploited. 'There is a lot of opportunity here for greenwashing by those, some perhaps with the best of intentions, who haven't done the right research,' said Oliver Towner, a member of the SAIF National Executive, the group supporting independent funeral directors. Towner points to the woven coffins that many funeral directors market as being a sustainable alternative to a wooden coffin. 'A lot of them are made in China and shipped to the UK. Are they still a more sustainable product than other options? The data at the moment just doesn't exist.' Towner also points out how important it is to take wider facts into account when judging what option is most sustainable. 'The carbon footprint of a cremation will obviously be more than a natural burial, but you're more likely to live closer to a crematorium than a natural burial ground and you're likely to scatter the ashes closer to home,' he said. Towner warns, however, that any interrogation of environmental claims has to cast its net even more widely. 'When looking at aquamation, for example, we need to factor in the the Environmental Agency's recent warning that London could run out of water in the next 25 years,' he said. 'If we start to rely on water cremation, what happens if London runs out of water in London?'
Yahoo
17-06-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Plans for 20,000 plot natural burial ground
A "natural burial ground" containing about 20,000 plots could be built, if plans are approved by a local authority. Forever Green Fields has submitted the application to Gateshead Council for the site between Crawcrook and Prudhoe, on land north of Hexham Road near Bradley Hall Farm. Natural burial grounds, which are different to more traditional cemeteries, require bodies to be buried with biodegradable coffins and without embalming treatments, the plans said. In its application, the company said the plots were needed because "burial space in the UK is becoming scarce at an ever-increasing rate". It citied figures from the Institute of Cemetery and Crematorium Management (ICM), which it said had "estimated that within the next five to 10 years, 30% of UK local authorities will have run out of burial space." "These calculations only consider current rates of burial and do not allow for the increasing number of total deaths arising from the nationally expanding population and ageing population nor shortages of burial space in neighbour council areas," the application added. The plans state the new grounds would contain between 18,871 to 22,287 plots, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service. They also said natural burial grounds "promote natural landscape" by using native foliage to encourage habitats for wildlife, and use natural memorials such as trees or wooden markers. Four similar burial grounds have opened in the North East over the last 20 years, the application said, which are located at: Seven Penny Meadow, Durham Belsay Woodland Burials, Northumberland Northumberland Woodland Burials, Northumberland Blue House Woodland Burials, Durham Gateshead Council received the application on 24 April, which is awaiting a decision from council planners. Follow BBC North East on X, Facebook and Instagram. Row over woodlands burial ground plan intensifies Quaker burial ground recognised for its importance Gateshead Council
BBC News
17-06-2025
- General
- BBC News
Plans for Gateshead natural burial ground between Crawcrook and Prudhoe
A "natural burial ground" containing about 20,000 plots could be built, if plans are approved by a local Green Fields has submitted the application to Gateshead Council for the site between Crawcrook and Prudhoe, on land north of Hexham Road near Bradley Hall burial grounds, which are different to more traditional cemeteries, require bodies to be buried with biodegradable coffins and without embalming its application, the company said the plots were needed because "burial space in the UK is becoming scarce at an ever-increasing rate". It citied figures from the Institute of Cemetery and Crematorium Management (ICM), which it said had "estimated that within the next five to 10 years, 30% of UK local authorities will have run out of burial space.""These calculations only consider current rates of burial and do not allow for the increasing number of total deaths arising from the nationally expanding population and ageing population nor shortages of burial space in neighbour council areas," the application plans state the new grounds would contain between 18,871 to 22,287 plots, according to the Local Democracy Reporting also said natural burial grounds "promote natural landscape" by using native foliage to encourage habitats for wildlife, and use natural memorials such as trees or wooden similar burial grounds have opened in the North East over the last 20 years, the application said, which are located at:Seven Penny Meadow, DurhamBelsay Woodland Burials, NorthumberlandNorthumberland Woodland Burials, NorthumberlandBlue House Woodland Burials, DurhamGateshead Council received the application on 24 April, which is awaiting a decision from council planners. Follow BBC North East on X, Facebook and Instagram.
