Buying a Grave
If you would like to choose the exact plot you may make an appointment to meet one of our staff who will discuss your needs to help you make the right choice for you and your family. We will ensure that someone is available to sit with you in privacy to complete the formalities either immediately following your cemetery appointment or at a time that suits you.
Your Authority
Our Cemetery rules allow for only one grave owner. As that registered grave owner you are the only person who may sign an interment form authorising the opening of the plot for burial. In addition you are the only person authorised to apply for permission to erect a memorial or to make changes to an existing memorial on this burial plot.
What happens next?
If you have just buried someone you may be wondering when you will be able to have a memorial stone. This will depend on whether you have a Lawn or Traditional Grave and in which cemetery section your grave is located.
Traditional Graves
If your traditional grave is in Upminster Cemetery and has the suffix TR:
- we have installed a concrete beam at the head of your grave so that you may have a headstone erected as soon as possible following the burial
- your memorial mason will place a concrete lintel at the foot of the grave
- the kerbing that extends the whole length of the grave will sit upon the two bases
- we recommend that you wait nine months to one year (to include the winter) before placing the kerbing. This is because the ground will settle and in order to top up the grave effectively, the kerbs would need to be removed.
If your traditional grave is in Upminster, but does not have the suffix TR, or is in Romford, Rainham or Hornchurch Cemetery:
- the headstone and kerbing will need to be laid on a full length section of concrete, known as a “landing”
- this cannot be laid down for at least 12 months following the burial.
Lawn Graves.
If your grave has a concrete beam installed at the head of the grave you may have a memorial placed on the plot as soon as you are ready. If you wish to have small garden kerbs in front of the headstone we recommend that these are installed once the ground has settled following the burial. If there is no beam you will need to wait 12 months for the ground to settle.
Your next step is to select a stone mason.
You will find stone masons listed in the Yellow Pages and online, or your funeral director may recommend a mason. All work carried out in the London Borough Of Havering cemeteries must be completed safely in accordance the British Register of Approved Monumental Masons (BRAMM) Blue Book and the current British Standards. You may be assured of this by choosing a mason who is a NAMM member or who is BRAMM registered. You can download an Application to Carry out Memorial Work and details of the Authorised dimensions and fixings required for memorials in Havering cemeteries, in order to hand to your memorial mason.
Downloads / Other useful documents:
NAMM Registered Stonemasons List
Application to carry out memorial work in Havering cemeteries
Authorised dimensions and fixings required for traditional grave memorials in Havering cemeteries
Authorised dimensions and fixings required for lawn grave memorials in Havering
What does my mason need to do?
Your mason will apply for a permit to carry out work on your grave and we will charge you a fee which will vary depending on the work to be carried out and will be paid on your behalf by your mason. This fee covers the on-going memorial safety programme carried out in Havering cemeteries.
If your stone mason has indicated that kerbing will be installed at a later date, permission granted for this application is valid for two years. This does not include any other type of additional memorial.
You can find out how to transfer your Exclusive Rights of Burial to someone else HERE