Attending a Burial

 

If you are attending a service and/or burial/reception at Belsay Woodland Burials please read through this important information so that you know where to go and what to expect.

We will always have stewards on hand to help you when you arrive. A map can be found below with carparks marked accordingly. 

Burial Only

If you are attending a burial at Belsay, please proceed directly to the Burial Ground and park in the car park there and wait for the funeral party to arrive.  Should you need to use ‘facilities’ prior to the burial, there is a loo available in our office, which is located on the corner just as you turn in on the main road.

It may be that Sam the pony and his cart are being used to transport the deceased to the Burial Ground.  In this case, family and friends are invited to follow the procession down the hill from the Blacksmith’s Coffee Shop, however, we would ask that you still park at the burial ground unless otherwise directed by our stewards on the day.

Service followed by Burial and Reception (or Reception only)

Our stewards will direct you to park in the small ‘green’ car park opposite the Blacksmith’s Coffee Shop – please be assured that it has hardcore underneath and is fine to park on even in winter. (This is marked blue on the map below)

Services take place in the Blacksmith’s Barn, adjacent to the Coffee Shop.  There are facilities here for you to use and the Barn is generally open 30 minutes prior to the time of the service.If you are unable to walk down to the burial ground after the service, please do drive down and park in the car park there.

What to Wear

Please ensure that you were sensible outdoor shoes to attend a burial and in winter we would highly recommend that you wear boots as it can get very muddy and slippy,

The Burial Ground is quite open and can be windy so please also wear a warm coat and if rain is forecast do bring an umbrella – although we always try and arrange for the sun to be shining.