'Ashes beam' installed at Clitheroe Cemetery

Clitheroe Cemetery, which is run by Ribble Valley Borough Council, has installed the beam in the main section of the cemetery for the burial of up to 50 ash urns marked by headstones.

The average funeral cost in the UK is now more than £4,000 for burial and around £3,000 for cremation, but interring ashes offers a sense of tradition, with less fuss and cost.

Liz Nash, Ribble Valley Borough Council’s cemeteries officer, said: “Alternative funerals are gaining popularity and the new ashes beam means cremated remains can be interred and marked by a headstone, offering the same sense of a traditional resting place as burial, but without undue ceremony and cost.”

Clitheroe Cemetery also houses a woodland ashes glade, where ashes can be interred in biodegradable boxes, or poured directly onto the ground. Interments in the ashes glade are not recorded on a plan, or marked by a headstone, but an entry is made in the Register of Burials on the day of interment.

Interment in the ashes beam starts from £394 and further details are available from Ribble Valley Borough Council on 01200 425111.