Skip to content

Natural burial ground

A natural burial ground is a cemetery designed to return the body to the earth with minimal environmental impact. Bodies are buried in biodegradable coffins or shrouds, no embalming is permitted, and traditional headstones are usually replaced by trees, wildflowers, or unmarked plots. The first dedicated natural burial ground in the UK opened at Carlisle in 1993; there are now around 270 sites, operated by local authorities, charities, private companies, and farms.

What distinguishes a natural burial ground:

  • Biodegradable materials only — coffins of wicker, willow, cardboard, untreated wood, or wool, or a simple shroud. No metal furniture, no varnish, no synthetic linings.
  • No embalming — formaldehyde-based fluids are prohibited because they leach into surrounding ground.
  • Memorials are landscape, not stone — trees, wildflower planting, or a small wooden marker. Some sites permit a flat stone flush to the ground; many do not.
  • Land use — the ground is managed as woodland, meadow, or wildflower habitat rather than mown lawn cemetery. Most operate on a long-term ecological management plan.

Religious neutrality: most sites are non-denominational and accept any funeral service, religious or secular. A few are run by charities with a particular ethos but still accept anyone for burial.

Cost: typically more expensive than a council cemetery plot for the burial right but often cheaper overall once the absence of headstone, embalming, and elaborate coffin is taken into account. The exclusive right of burial tenure is the same as in conventional cemeteries.

Who runs the sector: the Association of Natural Burial Grounds (ANBG, run by the Natural Death Centre charity) is the main UK body and maintains a national directory of sites with a code of conduct. Membership is voluntary; not all natural burial grounds are members, but membership is a useful proxy for established practice.

Legal status: natural burial grounds operate under the same planning, public health, and burial legislation as any other cemetery — the Local Authorities Cemeteries Order 1977 in England and Wales, the Burial and Cremation (Scotland) Act 2016 in Scotland, and equivalent regulations in Northern Ireland. The ecological character is operational, not a separate legal category. Burial of a body remains the legally-recognised disposal method; the ground simply manages the site differently.

Things to check before choosing one:

  • Whether the plot is freely accessible to the public and to the family (some sites are working farms with restricted access).
  • The site's long-term security — what happens if the operator goes out of business or sells the land. Some sites are protected by trust arrangements; not all are.
  • The rules on coffins, markers, and graveside ceremonies — these vary widely.
  • Whether the family wants a permanent identifiable marker; in many natural burial grounds the location is recorded by GPS rather than by surface marker.

→ Burial rights in the UK · Arranging a funeral

AfterLoss

See how AfterLoss handles funeral wishes for where to record a preferred natural burial ground so the family can act on the wish at the time.

Last verified: 2 May 2026 against the Natural Death Centre's Association of Natural Burial Grounds directory.