St Luke's Cemetery & Venn Ottery Road Cemetery

The Churchyard, the original burial plot for the church, is a small area directly to the north of the church, i.e. the grassed area between the church and the main road.  Over time this was filled so an additional cemetery was started, about 50 metres to the south-west of the church.  This cemetery is divided into a number of areas:  Christian, a Garden of Remembrance, Methodist, and Unconsecrated.  Ashes are sometimes interred in the Garden of Remembrance, and sometimes in standard grave plots (which can accommodate several urns of ashes).

 Aerial image of the cemetery:
Church to right (north of the car park).  

               

By the 1960s the cemetery was filling up, but a thoughtful local resident, Mr Cox (who lived at The Shieling in Station Road) generously bequeathed some land to the Parish.  Part of this land was used to extend the cemetery (the so-called 'new' section on the eastern and northern sides) and the remainder became the public car park.

Venn Ottery Road Cemetery

Near the end of the 20th century, the 'enlarged' cemetery was nearly full so additional land was acquired by the Parish Council to provide for this need in future decades.  The 'new' cemetery is situated on Venn Ottery Road, about a quarter mile to the north of the main village of Newton Poppleford and is clearly signposted. This is a non-denominational / secular cemetery and the land herewith is not designated as consecrated although services
of blessing / consecration may be carried out here by a Minister.

A Garden of Remembrance is also situated here for the interment of Ashes. A water tap is available for the watering of plants etc.  

 
Burial Records

The burial records after 1940 are kept in large books by the Parish Clerk.  These records are being transcribed into a spreadsheet and this is more easily searched than the books, so those wishing to find information on burials and interred ashes can request this from the Parish Clerk.

Cemetery Policies

There are certain rules that apply to interments in these cemeteries, intended to ensure that records can be maintained appropriately, allowing traceability of burials etc.  Some rules also facilitate maintenance of the facilities.

Fees and rules and regulations can be downloaded HERE 

Financial Assistance with burial charges etc

At a recent meeting of the Parish Council (May 2020), it was agreed by Councillors that details of the national hardship scheme for burials should be published on this page so that persons experiencing financial hardship 
in relation to a burial or interment would know that some help (subject to certain rules) was available.

The web-link below was valid and functional as at 15th June 2020.

https://www.gov.uk/funeral-payments