Burial Ground Rules & Regulations

FIRST RATHFRILAND PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
Burial Ground Rules and Regulations

(Revised 2025)

1. (a) The management of the Burial Ground shall be entirely in the hands of the Congregational Committee (here in after called “The Committee”), which may appoint from among its members a Graveyard Committee with full powers to act for it in all matters relative to the Burial Ground.

(b) The Committee shall have power at all times to make any improvements or alterations in the Graveyard which it considers necessary.

2. These Rules and Regulations are binding on all members of First Rathfriland Congregation (here in after called “The Congregation”).

3. No person shall have any right or interest in the Burial Ground, and the mere fact that any person has ancestors or relatives buried in the Burial Ground of the Congregation shall not of itself give any right or interest in the said Burial Ground; but members of the above Congregation whose names are on the roll of the Congregation and whose membership is fully paid up, according to the regulations of the Committee will receive, where necessary and when available, the privilege of the use of the burial ground.

4. No Grave shall be opened, nor Headstone, Memorial or Enclosure erected, nor inscription or symbol placed upon a Memorial or Headstone or otherwise displayed, nor Shrub or Plant placed or planted nor any object placed or left in any part of the Burial Ground without the previous written sanction of the Committee as evidenced by the Secretary.

5. Any act, matter or thing done in the Burial Ground contrary to Clause 4 hereof shall  be an act of trespass, and if any Headstone, Memorial, Enclosure, Inscription, Symbol, Shrub, Plant or object be erected, planted or placed contrary to Clause 4 those responsible must remove same on demand, or in default thereof the same may be removed by the Committee or its agents without any notice being given and without responsibility for any loss or damage occasioned by such removal.

6. All persons carrying out work in and all persons for any other reason entering into the Burial Ground do so entirely at their own risk and under no circumstances will the Committee or Church Trustees accept liability for injury which such persons may suffer or for damage done to Memorials, Shrubs or Plants in the course of such work arising in any manner from it.

7. The Committee or the Graveyard Committee on its behalf alone has the right of appointing the Grave-digger who shall receive remuneration – according to rule 12 (c) from the person responsible for paying the expenses of the funeral.

8. The burial space permitted on the privilege of burial being granted shall be entirely in the hands of and granted at the discretion of the Committee or the Graveyard Committee acting for it.  All things erected, placed or planted with the sanction provided for in Clause 4 hereof must be within the space allotted for burial.

9. Permission for burial showing the approval of the Committee or Graveyard Committee acting on its behalf shall be signed by either the Congregational Secretary or the Secretary of the Graveyard Committee.

10. If any person who is not a member of the Congregation desires the privilege of burial such person shall apply to the Congregational Secretary or to the Secretary of the Graveyard Committee and, if granted the privilege of burial under Clause 4 or 9, shall be bound by these Rules and Regulations in the same ways as members of the Congregation; and on the granting of such application permission may be restricted as to monetary payment or otherwise as in the absolute discretion of the Committee of the Graveyard Committee seems proper.

11. All Funeral Services in the Burial Ground, as in the Church, shall be conducted only by the Minister of this Congregation or by some other person with the sanction of the Kirk Session of the Congregation.

12. (a) When space for the privilege of burial is allocated, the applicant shall pay a fee to the funds of the congregation according to the following scale (or such figures as the Committee from time to time may substitute therefor):

(b)  Members shall pay a fee of £100 and non-members shall pay a fee of £500 (or such figure as the Committee from time to time may substitute therefore) in respect of each interment.

(c)  The fee to the grave-digger shall be paid directly.

13. For the first interment the grave to be sunk at least seven feet.

14. No remains of the dead to be removed to make place for another interment.

15. No coffin to be laid in any grave nearer the surface than three feet from measuring from the upper part of the coffin.

16. Any former member of the Congregation as defined in Rule 3 shall automatically forfeit his privilege in respect of any unoccupied grave upon ceasing to be such a member of this congregation.

17. No person shall under any circumstances purport to dispose of an interest in any Grave, the Committee alone being empowered to make alterations in their allotment.

18. Graveyard maintenance fees shall be paid annually to the congregation and are set at £30 per family plot, contained within the plot.  Where a family has the responsibility for more than one set of graves, a maximum fee of £50 will be payable.

19. The committee may refuse burial until such time as all outstanding graveyard maintenance fees have been paid in full, effective from 1st January 2025.

20. The decision of the Committee or of its agent, the Graveyard Committee, shall be final and binding in all matters arising out of these Regulations, or in the case of matters appertaining to the privilege of Burial, Sites or Memorials or matters concerning the Burial Ground in any way.

Authorised by the Committee of the above Church.

Revised 12 -05-2025

Rev Rodney Moody (Chairman)

Murray Annett (Graveyard Secretary)