Greenhaven Woodland Burial Ground
Encyclopedia
Greenhaven Woodland Burial Ground is a natural burial ground located in the village of Lilbourne
, 5 miles (8 km) from the town of Rugby
, England
. It opened in 1994 and was the first privately owned natural burial ground in the country. Greenhaven is situated on 14 acres (56,656 m²) of former agricultural land and originally catered for approximately 7000 plots, but as of December 8, 2008, roughly 5000 of these remain.
The burial ground has no specific religious ties.
programme Changing Places: Pushing Up The Daisies. The burial ground also featured in The Breakfast Club show for BBC Radio Coventry and Warwickshire on March 24, 2006. In April 2000, Greenhaven won The New Natural Death Handbook Award 2000 for the Best Nature Reserve Ground in the UK. More recently, the burial ground was a finalist in the UK Cemetery of the Year Awards 2008.
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Lilbourne
Lilbourne is a village in the Daventry district of Northamptonshire in England. It is close to the M1 motorway which runs past the village, and the A5 road, east of the village. At the time of the 2001 census, the parish's population was 363 people.-History:...
, 5 miles (8 km) from the town of Rugby
Rugby, Warwickshire
Rugby is a market town in Warwickshire, England, located on the River Avon. The town has a population of 61,988 making it the second largest town in the county...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. It opened in 1994 and was the first privately owned natural burial ground in the country. Greenhaven is situated on 14 acres (56,656 m²) of former agricultural land and originally catered for approximately 7000 plots, but as of December 8, 2008, roughly 5000 of these remain.
Greenhaven’s Philosophy
In order to maintain as close to a natural environment as possible, Greenhaven:- Has replaced the use of gravestones with trees. The tree type can be picked from a list of trees native to the local area. The selection of available trees has since been limited in order to avoid a selection bias and to ensure a mixture analogous to the surrounding countryside of NorthamptonshireNorthamptonshireNorthamptonshire is a landlocked county in the English East Midlands, with a population of 629,676 as at the 2001 census. It has boundaries with the ceremonial counties of Warwickshire to the west, Leicestershire and Rutland to the north, Cambridgeshire to the east, Bedfordshire to the south-east,...
. These currently include ash, oakOakAn oak is a tree or shrub in the genus Quercus , of which about 600 species exist. "Oak" may also appear in the names of species in related genera, notably Lithocarpus...
, alderAlderAlder is the common name of a genus of flowering plants belonging to the birch family . The genus comprises about 30 species of monoecious trees and shrubs, few reaching large size, distributed throughout the North Temperate Zone and in the Americas along the Andes southwards to...
, crab apple, willowWillowWillows, sallows, and osiers form the genus Salix, around 400 species of deciduous trees and shrubs, found primarily on moist soils in cold and temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere...
, silver birchSilver BirchBetula pendula is a widespread European birch, though in southern Europe it is only found at higher altitudes. Its range extends into southwest Asia in the mountains of northern Turkey and the Caucasus...
, wild cherry, blackthornBlackthornPrunus spinosa is a species of Prunus native to Europe, western Asia, and locally in northwest Africa. It is also locally naturalised in New Zealand and eastern North America....
, buckthornBuckthornThe Buckthorns are a genus of about 100 species of shrubs or small trees from 1-10 m tall , in the buckthorn family Rhamnaceae...
, dogwoodDogwoodThe genus Cornus is a group of about 30-60 species of woody plants in the family Cornaceae, commonly known as dogwoods. Most dogwoods are deciduous trees or shrubs, but a few species are nearly herbaceous perennial subshrubs, and a few of the woody species are evergreen...
, field mapleField MapleAcer campestre, common name Field Maple, is a maple native to much of Europe, north to southern Scotland , Denmark, Poland and Belarus, and also southwest Asia from Turkey to the Caucasus, and north Africa in the Atlas Mountains...
, hawthorn, midland hawthornMidland HawthornCrataegus laevigata, known as the midland hawthorn, woodland hawthorn or mayflower, is a species of hawthorn native to western and central Europe, from Great Britain and Spain east to the Czech Republic and Hungary. The species name is often spelled C. levigata, but the original orthography is C...
, hazelHazelThe hazels are a genus of deciduous trees and large shrubs native to the temperate northern hemisphere. The genus is usually placed in the birch family Betulaceae, though some botanists split the hazels into a separate family Corylaceae.They have simple, rounded leaves with double-serrate margins...
, spindle, wayfaring, guelder rose, rowanRowanThe rowans or mountain-ashes are shrubs or small trees in genus Sorbus of family Rosaceae. They are native throughout the cool temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere, with the highest species diversity in the mountains of western China and the Himalaya, where numerous apomictic microspecies...
, hollyHollyIlex) is a genus of 400 to 600 species of flowering plants in the family Aquifoliaceae, and the only living genus in that family. The species are evergreen and deciduous trees, shrubs, and climbers from tropics to temperate zones world wide....
and aspenAspenPopulus section Populus, of the Populus genus, includes the aspen trees and the white poplar Populus alba. The five typical aspens are all native to cold regions with cool summers, in the north of the Northern Hemisphere, extending south at high altitudes in the mountains. The White Poplar, by...
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- Requires that at the time of burial, the body shall be contained in clothes, wrappings or a shroud made of natural cloths and materials.
- Provides a variety of biodegradable coffins which contain no metal or plastic.
- Forbids the decoration of graves with ornaments, toys or any non-biodegradable objects.
The burial ground has no specific religious ties.
Media and Awards
On January 21, 2005, Greenhaven director Nicholas Hargreaves took part in an interview about green burials for the BBC Radio 4BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4 is a British domestic radio station, operated and owned by the BBC, that broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history. It replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. The station controller is currently Gwyneth Williams, and the...
programme Changing Places: Pushing Up The Daisies. The burial ground also featured in The Breakfast Club show for BBC Radio Coventry and Warwickshire on March 24, 2006. In April 2000, Greenhaven won The New Natural Death Handbook Award 2000 for the Best Nature Reserve Ground in the UK. More recently, the burial ground was a finalist in the UK Cemetery of the Year Awards 2008.
The Future of Greenhaven
It is hoped that the site will be completely wooded by 2060 and passed over to a wildlife trust who will maintain it as a natural ecosystemEcosystem
An ecosystem is a biological environment consisting of all the organisms living in a particular area, as well as all the nonliving , physical components of the environment with which the organisms interact, such as air, soil, water and sunlight....
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External links
- Lilbourne Village
- igreens Website A list of woodland burial sites in the UK.
- The Natural Death Centre
- The Independent An article about green burials featuring the Greenhaven Woodland Burial Ground.