Arrange a burial at a Swindon cemetery
Existing graves and ownership
You may be able to arrange another burial or burial of cremated remains in an existing family grave.
This depends on where the grave is, who owns the burial rights and whether the correct permission is in place.
Burials in existing family graves
If you already have a family grave, it may be possible for another burial or burial of cremated remains to take place.
This may include existing graves at Radnor Street Cemetery or Whitworth Road Cemetery, where new grave plots are no longer available.
To reopen an existing grave, we need full permission from the registered grave owner.
If the registered grave owner has died, we will need to establish their next of kin before arrangements can continue.
Grave ownership
As the registered owner of a grave, you have the right to be buried there without permission from anyone else.
The registered grave owner must give permission before anyone can add a memorial or arrange another burial in the grave.
Transfer burial rights
Burial rights can be transferred to another family member or to another person of your choice.
By law, we must update our manual and electronic records when burial rights are transferred.
We will also write to the new grave owner to confirm the transfer has been made.
Contact Bereavement Services to ask about transferring burial rights and the current transfer fee.
Un-purchased graves
Some graves, especially in older cemeteries, have more than one burial in them. These plots were not purchased by anyone. They were paid for by public health.
In these circumstances, there is no grave ownership and no form of memorialisation is permitted.
Contact Bereavement Services if you have a question about one of these graves.
Contact us
If you need help with an existing grave, grave ownership or transferring burial rights, contact us.