Natural Burial Site Voted Cemetery of the Year

Published on: 10 Sep, 2014
Updated on: 16 Sep, 2014

Clandon Wood Surrey Hills Natural Burial Reserve has been voted Cemetery of the Year at the Good Funeral Awards 2014.

Judges said that one of the reasons that Clandon Wood won, was due to a combination of outstanding client care, combined with the creation of a sacred space. Clandon Wood is a special memorial landscape that provides some therapeutic benefit to the bereaved.

Clandon Wood Natural Burial Reserve. Picture by Dani Maimone.

The Good Funeral Awards celebrate the achievements of practitioners who, through a combination of high professionalism and human kindness, enable bereaved people to create great funerals. The awards are conferred by judges appointed by the Good Funeral Guide, a not-for-profit consumer advice and advocacy organisation.

Charles Cowling, director of the Good Funeral Guide, said: “This is where we get to shine a spotlight on those many unsung heroes who work so hard for the bereaved and who can be so easily overlooked.

“The world needs to know that some of the nicest people in Britain work in the funeral industry, helping to make a sad time so much less of an ordeal. Clandon Wood is a forward-thinking, groundbreaking, burial ground with empathetic staff whose commitment to natural burial has made it a formidable force for good.”

Fran Hall, operations manager at Clandon Wood added: “We are absolutely delighted to win the title of Best Cemetery of the Year at the 2014 Good Funeral Awards.

“It is really important to us that Clandon Wood is recognised as a mainstream alternative choice for bereaved families, as natural burial is still sometimes seen as rather a ‘new age’ option.

“Natural burial provides an obvious solution to the growing shortage of burial space in local authority cemeteries and is a really responsible and ecologically sound alternative to cremation. Winning the accolade of Best Cemetery of the Year will help us to promote the valuable work we are doing at Clandon Wood and reach many people who perhaps haven’t realised that a natural burial is another option available to them.”

Clandon Wood, located just outside Guildford, officially opened in June 2013 and this is the third accolade won by the site this year. It was recently awarded Green Flag status by the Keep Britain Tidy charity and judged The Best Natural Burial Ground in the UK. It is also the first natural burial ground to join forces with a local authority, providing Mole Valley District Council with their burial provision when they run out of space in a few years time.

Natural burial is recognised as creating new sustainable environments for wildlife. Considered and traditional land management practices enable the land to be used for burials whilst creating a beneficial, natural resource for nature.

To find out more about Clandon Wood take a look at the website at www.clandonwood.com or call the office on 01483 479614. For information about the Good Funeral Guide please look at the website at http://www.goodfuneralguide.co.uk/.

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