Farm natural choice for green burial site

George and Clare Atkinson opened Temple Wood Natural Burial Ground on land at High Park Farm, Aslackby, last autumn on a five-acre meadow.

George said: “It is a slightly unusual farm diversification, up against the 750-acre Temple Wood.

“We were reading about how green burials were getting more popular.

“We have got our heads round it now and we are members of a natural burial ground association.”

They already have a wind turbine and heat their properties with a biomass boiler.

They researched the planning and environmental regulations and talked with local funeral directors, learning that the nearest sites are in Rutland and Lincoln.

George said: “A lot of people are thinking more about the environment. When we went for planning permission we had one or two people who had visions of pagan rituals, but it is not at all, it is very normal. People can go for a church service and be buried here afterwards. The ground is not consecrated but people can have individual plots blessed. Most have had the service there in the field.”

George said they have had a couple of dozen ‘advance bookings’ and four actual burials so far. People have also had their ashes scattered.

“We maintain the place but the funeral directors handle the rest. We employ a grave digger to dig by hand,” he said.

“The main difference is we have a lot more space and do not have to recycle plots. We have capacity for over 2,000 plots taking decades to fill. We have been planting wild flowers and each grave gets a native species of tree planted on it, so eventually it will become part of the woodland.”

They only allow biodegradable coffins and urns, no lasting ornaments and even plastic wrapping around flowers is not welcomed. As well as a slate plaque at the base of trees, graves are pinpointed by GPS markers sunk into the ground.

The meadowland provides a tranquil habitat buzzing with insects, birds, deer and other wildlife.