Garden Burials

Clare Gittings and Tony Walter

Getting buried in your back garden has received some publicity in the UK since the 1990s, but it is not a new phenomenon.

Clare Gittings is examining eighteenth century records of a number of those who were buried in their gardens or on some other private property - which of them succeeded in staying put? How was this achieved?

Tony Walter will enquire of those who have recently engaged in or propose garden burial - what do they think will ensure their burial sites will remain undisturbed in futrure? In the light of our historical data, are their hopes realistic?

This project has now concluded

Publications arising from this project are:

Gittings, C. & Walter, T. (2010) ‘Rest in Peace? Burial on Private Land’, in A. Maddrell & J. Sidaway, eds New Spaces for Death, Dying and Bereavement, Aldershot: Ashgate.

Walter, T. & Gittings, C. (2010) ‘What Will the Neighbours Say? Reactions to Field and Garden Burial’, in J. Hockey, C. Komaromy, K. Woodthorpe, eds, The Matter of Death: space, place and materiality, Basingstoke: Palgrave.