Garden of Blessings

Rules and Regulations
The garden of blessings graveyard is operated in accordance with the following rules and regulations. These also impose certain restrictions and requirements on users of the graveyard which we expect observers to observe. This version of the rules and regulations were last revised and approved by the Garden of Blessings Trust in January 2008.
If you need help in interpreting the rules and regulations, please contact an independent legal adviser or, please do not hesitate to contact a member of staff at the graveyard office on 02746 325859, or email us on info@garden-of-blessings.org.
The rules and regulations and any instruction that the graveyard staff may give must be adhered to whenever you visit the graveyard. Visitors and users of this graveyard are deemed to have read and accepted the rules and regulations, which will be kept under review and maybe changed without notice.

General

Children under 11 years of age are not allowed in the graveyard unless they are accompanied by a responsible adult. Children should be supervised at all times. This is for their own safety.
Graveyard staff and management reserve the right to refuse entry into the graveyard to anyone where, in their opinion, it would not be appropriate to allow entry.

Paperwork

The registrar’s certificate for disposal (Green Form) or the coroners order for burial (Form 101) must be delivered to the administration office before the burial can legally take place.
If the registrars certificate for disposal or the coroners order is mislaid or lost, a declaration to the satisfaction of the graveyard staff must be made by the person procuring the disposal of the deceased. The original certificate or duplicate copy issued by the registrar of Births and Deaths or the coroner, must be produced within 7 days after the signing of the declaration. Failure to do so will result in the graveyard reporting the matter to the relevant authorities.
For the burial of a stillborn child, a certificate (white form for still-birth) in accordance with the Births and Deaths Registration act 1953 and must be delivered to the administration office.

Burial and Graveside Rules / Etiquettes.

Do not at anytime walk, jump over any grave; or laugh, make jokes, play songs or music via mobile telephones or any other such devices;
Please engage in offering salaams to the deceased, quietly reciting the Quran and Du’aa (supplication) to Allah, preferably facing Qiblah or remain silent by contemplating on Allah’s mercy.
Use of any sound systems (for the recitation of the Quran) must be kept personal or audible to nearby individuals only.
At all times maintain peace at the graveyard.
Around the grounds of the graveyard there is a lake and within the grounds of the graveyard there is a fountain, please refrain from standing/walking close to this. Please ensure that children are supervised at all times. This is for your and the children’s safety. Standing nearby or entering the grave can be dangerous. Anyone choosing to do this does so at their own risk.
The Garden of Blessings will not be responsible for any accidents occurring within the graveyard grounds. The trust will not be responsible for loss or damage to personal belongings, cars etc of any third party.
The preferred payment method to cover the burial fees is by cheque, made payable to ‘Garden of Blessings’, unless you are currently on the monthly payment scheme. For current fees please enquire with the graveyard office. Cash however is accepted. Please note that all funds need to be cleared before a burial can take place. Please do not ask for credit as denial will be a cause of embarrassment.
Please ensure that you arrive at the graveyard with the Burial form (‘Green form or White form), or form 101, without which burial cannot legally take place. It is very important that the time for the burial is kept. If for any reason there are any delays, please inform the graveyard in the first instance.

Graves

Every interment shall take place in a private grave that will be selected by the graveyard manager or other suitable officer.
A plan of the graveyard showing the position of sections and graves is kept at the graveyard office. This may be viewed without charge at any reasonable time.
On the purchase of the exclusive right in a grave a form of Grant shall be issued to the person whom, or on whose behalf, the exclusive right of burial is purchased and such person shall be registered in the records held by the Garden of Blessings as owner of the grave.
This grave is for the sole use for one individual and will not be reused at anytime in the future

Production of Documents of Title

Whenever an interment takes place in the grave the form of grant shall be produced at the Graveyard Office, to be endorsed with the date of such interment and the name of the person interred and the burial number.
No prepaid grave space will be excavated without the production of the form of grant and the written consent of the owner, or of his or her legal representative. In cases where the form of grant has been lost or mislaid there may be a requirement for identification of the relatives of the deceased in order to ensure that the burial will be taking place according to the desires of the deceased.
Where the consent of the owner cannot be obtained, the grave will only be excavated on the application of any person whom the Garden of Blessings Trust shall consider completed and a duplicate grave deed will be issued to the original purchaser of the grave entitled thereto. In case of an Executor of a Will being appointed then he/she may apply for the burial of the deceased in any grave space that the deceased is so entitled to be buried in.
In cases of the deceased not appointing a solicitor or where the deceased died interstate the applicant in this case must satisfy the Garden of Blessings Trust of their entitlement to open the grave. This is done by completing and returning a Statutory Declaration Form B to take ownership of the grave space and giving an indemnity to the Garden of Blessings at his or her own expense.
Statutory Declaration forms A and B may be obtained from the graveyard office.

Transfer of ownership

Any transfer of ownership is not permitted under any circumstances.

Time of interments

The Graveyard is open for burials throughout the year, including weekends and Public Holidays. Application for interment should be submitted to the office prior to the proposed burial date. All forms must be submitted with the exact coffin size included. A minimum of 4 hours notice must be given. This will be accepted by telephone, however an exact coffin size must also be given when the burial is booked.
Burials will be accepted at any time (with the correct paperwork). All funerals entering the graveyard shall be under the control and discretion of the Superintendent or his appointed representative.

Certification

No burial will be permitted unless correct and adequate paperwork has been received at the graveyard office and inspected by the appropriate officer. This also applies to official papers obtained from either the Registrar of Births and Deaths or the Coroner.
The Graveyard Superintendent must be informed of any bodies, which have died from an infectious disease. An up to date list of infectious diseases is available from the BMA or from the Crematorium Medical Referee.

Coffins

All bodies shall be accepted for interment at the graveyard either enclosed in a coffin or without.
Any coffin entering the graveyard must bare a nameplate or other suitable form of identification and must contain the name of the deceased.
It is the responsibility of the funeral director or other person conducting the funeral to ensure that enough people are available to assist in transporting the coffin to the graveside and to assist with its lowering.

Offences

Attention is drawn to the following order: -
This order provides that no person shall: -

wilfully create any disturbance in the graveyard
commit any nuisance in the graveyard
wilfully interfere with any burial taking place
wilfully interfere with any grave.
Wilfully interfere with any memorial, or any flowers or plants on any such matter.
Play any games or sports in the graveyard.
Enter or remain in the graveyard at any hour when it is closed to the public unless being a person so authorised by the burial authority.

Grave maintenance and aftercare

Graves are sold for single interment only. After burial all graves will be tidied up and left in an acceptable condition by the graveyard staff. The levelling of graves during the period of settlement will be carried out by the graveyard staff on a regular basis for a period of 6 months after the burial.
The Garden of Blessing will undertake the turfing, seeding and maintenance of the lawn areas. No cost will be incurred to the owner of the right of burial.

Headstones and memorialisation

No memorial will be permitted on any public grave and nothing shall be placed upon such graves without the consent of the Graveyard Superintendent.
No iron, plastic, wooden, brick or stonework or other material will be erected to provide a border or enclosure around any new grave space. The Garden of Blessings may after serving proper notice remove any such unauthorised memorialisation.
The area at the head of the grave designated for private memorialisation may not be enclosed or bordered in any way. If the grave owner wishes they may remove an area of turf at the head of the grave (remaining within the 2'6" area) and plant seasonal bedding plants. Shrubs, trees or any other type of large or fast growing plant are not permitted and may be removed without notification.

Graves - General Information

A number stone will be placed on all new graves after burial within a period of one month. The number stone will remain until it is replaced with a headstone. The Garden of Blessings Trust has the right to remove and dispose of any floral tributes, flowers, plants etc that have withered or died or have become unsightly on any grave space.

Fees & Charges

Anyone, without exception, wishing to purchase an exclusive right of burial must send the appropriate fee at the same time as the relevant application form.

Visiting The Graveyard

Friends or relatives who wish to visit the grave may not be able to find it without the grave number, which is shown on your grave deed. Make a note of the grave number to take with you when you visit the graveyard. Graveyard staff will then be able to help you should you have any difficulties.
Under no circumstances should give money to someone who approaches you in the graveyard with an offer to supply a memorial or do work on your grave. No reputable Mason would canvass for work in such a manner and all other work should be paid for at the graveyard office where you will be issued with an official receipt.

Grave Ownership

The person whose name appears on the deed as the purchaser of the exclusive right (registered grave owner), is the only person who can authorize such things as the erection of a memorial, the cutting of an inscription and also any future interments. When the registered owner dies, the deed passes to the executors, or the next of kin.
The registered owner can transfer the title of the grave to another person. Such transfers are not valid unless registered with the graveyard office, where you may obtain advice on the procedure and the necessary forms.
The popular belief is that the land itself is purchased. This is incorrect. The purchaser acquires only a right of burial in the grave, the ownership of the land and responsibility for its management remains with the Garden of Blessings.

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