The Cemetery

Weston Road cemetery overlooks an attractive expanse of countryside known as Forster Country, as the novelist E.M. Forster lived nearby in Rooks Nest Cottage.

The cemetery is open all-day and evening, 365 days a year. There is also a visitors' car park.

The cemetery is divided into ten burial sections (A - K) and is laid out as a Lawn Cemetery, with a Garden of Rest, Memorial Rose and Shrub Gardens and a Lawn Birches scattering area for ashes.

Cemetery regulations

Our regulations ensure that the cemetery can continue to be maintained at a high standard for future generations.

Access

Weston Road Cemetery lies in the north of the town. The address is Weston Road Cemetery, Weston Road, Stevenage, Herts, SG1 4DE.

The entrance is from Weston Road. There is a car park that is open to cemetery visitors at all times. The nearest bus stop is in Canterbury Way which is a short walk from the Cemetery.

Access for disabled, or less able-bodied, visitors can be arranged by contacting the Cemetery Office, telephone 01438 367109, prior to visiting the Cemetery.

The Lawn Cemetery

Graves in this cemetery are covered in lawn, with memorials confined to the head of the graves. Flowers may be placed on the concrete beam where the headstone is situated.

Kerbstones, flowers, vases, plants, or boundary markers are not allowed on any grave.

Grant Transfer

A Grant Transfer application to register a new owner of Exclusive Right of Burial can be completed if the current owner is deceased or the current owner wishes to either add another person or persons or relinquish ownership to another person or persons. Please get in touch with the Cemetery Team on 01438 367109 or cemeteries@stevenage.gov.uk for more information.

Who is entitled to take ownership of a grave?

Probate - Where the deceased owner left a will, and his/her estate was subject to probate the person/s named on probate as the executors to the will are the person/s legally entitled to take ownership of the grave.

Letters of administration - Where the deceased owner did not leave a will, but there was sufficient estate, letters of administration would be issued. The person/s named on the letters of administration as the executors to the estate are the person/s legally entitled to take ownership of the grave.

In both of the above cases, the ownership can be transferred to another person or persons or an additional owner added during the transfer process.

Intestate - Where the deceased owner died intestate (without a will) and there was insufficient estate to pass through the court we will need to help you establish who is rightfully entitled to take ownership of the grave. Once this is established, we will write a statutory declaration that will detail who is entitled and whether there are any other parties involved. This can be complex, and it may be necessary for the person applying for ownership to get in contact with many members of the family to gain their permission. There are some cases where we are unable to transfer the ownership of a grave where people are not contactable or unwilling to get involved.

Garden of Rest

This area is for the interment of ashes only and is laid out on grass.

Each plot can hold a maximum of two ashes with one memorial on each plot allowed. We shall not permit any gravestones, fencing, railings, vases or the like.

Please note that all memorials will be subject to approval.

Permanent memorials may only be erected on Garden of Rest plots where the Grant of Exclusive Right of Burial has been purchased.

The Memorial application form will be supplied from a Stonemason of your choice and requires the signature and printed name and address of the grant owner before any work is approved.

Memorial Rose Gardens

The Memorial Rose Gardens are for ashes interments only, with each plot holding a maximum of two ashes.

There are a variety of different rose colours you can choose from, these being red, orange, yellow, pink or white.

The inscription for the plaque to be placed with the rose can be chosen from the list on the back of the interment form. There are eight inscriptions to choose from, and the plaque will include the full name of the deceased, the year of birth, the year of death and plot number.

The Lawn Birches

This area is for the scattering of ashes only, no memorial items or artificial flowers are permitted within the Lawn Birches area. Please ensure the ashes are scattered from the original Crematorium container only, and please understand that once the ashes have been scattered an exhumation is not possible.

Memorial Wall

Floral tributes for people wishing to purchase a position on the Memorial Wall with a plaque and container will be charged a fee for a period of 5 years which can be renewed.

Commemorative Bench Plaques

If you wish to remember a loved one with a commemorative plaque, we have several beautiful teak benches positioned around our cemeteries.

Teak naturally weathers and over months the bench will become pale and then a graceful silver colour.

Each teak bench can hold a maximum of five stainless steel plaques at any one time with the plaques being available on a lease term of 10 years, renewable after this time.

If you would like a commemorative plaque on a bench in a location that doesn’t currently have one available, please get in touch and we can discuss your requirements. Please note that whilst we will do all we can to place a bench at your preferred location this may not always be possible due to operational needs.

Book of Remembrance

The Book of Remembrance is located in the Chapel, historical entries can be viewed for each day through the window if the Chapel is locked.

The inscription will be the full name of the deceased, and the date of their birth. The inscription is normally entered on the anniversary of the death but may be entered on any other date if requested.

In addition to the inscription, it is also possible to include an entry of a short verse. The verse can be up to four lines in length, with no more than 32 letters per line.

Please contact us, using the details below, to enquire.

Reopening existing graves

Visitors to the cemetery may find that when an existing grave needs to be reopened for a further burial, it may be necessary to place the removed earth on an adjacent plot. The cemetery staff take every possible care in this task; the situation is unavoidable and is kept to a minimum so as not to inconvenience our visitors.

Memorials

Only flower vases and headstones of a limited size are permitted as memorials. The memorials are fixed in double rows in a ‘back to back’ arrangement. The Memorial application form will be supplied from a Stonemason of your choice and requires the signature and printed name and address of the grant owner before any work is approved.

Mulberry Memorial tree

The Mulberry Memorial Tree is a memory tree, positioned in the centre of Weston Road cemetery surrounded by rose and shrub gardens.

The tree comes complete with 16 branches and can hold 240 heart-shaped granite leaves.

The leaves can be engraved with a name, year of birth and death, and a small inscription.

Personalised leaves start at £155 each and are displayed on the tree for five years.

To find out more, please email us using the details below.

Searches

Searches can be made for any person requiring information for family trees.