Greenhaven Woodland Burial Ground is a natural burial ground located in the village of

Lilbourne Lilbourne is a village and civil parish in West Northamptonshire in England. It is close to the M1 motorway which runs east of the village, and the A5 road, west of the village which marks the boundary with Warwickshire, slightly to the north i ...

, from the town of

Rugby Rugby may refer to: Sport * Rugby football in many forms: ** Rugby league: 13 players per side *** Masters Rugby League *** Mod league *** Rugby league nines *** Rugby league sevens *** Touch (sport) *** Wheelchair rugby league ** Rugby union: 1 ...

, England. It opened in 1994 and was the first privately owned natural burial ground in the country. Greenhaven is situated on of former agricultural land and originally catered for approximately 7,000 plots, but as of 8 December 2008, roughly 5,000 of these remain.

Greenhaven’s Philosophy

In order to maintain as close to a natural environment as possible, Greenhaven: *Has replaced the use of gravestones with trees. The tree type can be picked from a list of trees native to the local area. The selection of available trees has since been limited in order to avoid a selection bias and to ensure a mixture analogous to the surrounding countryside of

Northamptonshire Northamptonshire (; abbreviated Northants.) is a county in the East Midlands of England. In 2015, it had a population of 723,000. The county is administered by two unitary authorities: North Northamptonshire and West Northamptonshire. It is ...

. These currently include ash,

oak An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' (; Latin "oak tree") of the beech family, Fagaceae. There are approximately 500 extant species of oaks. The common name "oak" also appears in the names of species in related genera, notably ''L ...

alder Alders are trees comprising the genus ''Alnus'' in the birch family Betulaceae. The genus comprises about 35 species of monoecious trees and shrubs, a few reaching a large size, distributed throughout the north temperate zone with a few sp ...

crab apple ''Malus'' ( or ) is a genus of about 30–55 species of small deciduous trees or shrubs in the family Rosaceae, including the domesticated orchard apple, crab apples, wild apples, and rainberries. The genus is native to the temperate zone o ...

willow Willows, also called sallows and osiers, from the genus ''Salix'', comprise around 400 speciesMabberley, D.J. 1997. The Plant Book, Cambridge University Press #2: Cambridge. of typically deciduous trees and shrubs, found primarily on moist so ...

silver birch ''Betula pendula'', commonly known as silver birch, warty birch, European white birch, or East Asian white birch, is a species of tree in the family Betulaceae, native to Europe and parts of Asia, though in southern Europe, it is only found ...

, wild cherry,

blackthorn ''Prunus spinosa'', called blackthorn or sloe, is a species of flowering plant in the rose family Rosaceae. The species is native to Europe, western Asia, and regionally in northwest Africa. It is locally naturalized in New Zealand, Tasmania, ...

, buckthorn,

dogwood ''Cornus'' is a genus of about 30–60 species of woody plants in the family Cornaceae, commonly known as dogwoods, which can generally be distinguished by their blossoms, berries, and distinctive bark. Most are deciduous trees or shru ...

field maple ''Acer campestre'', known as the field maple, is a flowering plant species in the family Sapindaceae. It is native to much of continental Europe, Britain, southwest Asia from Turkey to the Caucasus, and north Africa in the Atlas Mountains. It has ...

, hawthorn,

midland hawthorn ''Crataegus laevigata'', known as the Midland hawthorn, English hawthorn, woodland hawthorn, or mayflower, is a species of hawthorn native to western and central Europe, from Great Britain (where it is typically found in ancient woodland and old ...

, hazel, spindle, wayfaring,

guelder rose ''Viburnum opulus'', the guelder-rose or guelder rose () is a species of flowering plant in the family Adoxaceae (formerly Caprifoliaceae) native to Europe, northern Africa and central Asia. Description ''Viburnum opulus'' is a deciduous shru ...

, rowan,

holly ''Ilex'' (), or holly, is a genus of over 570 species of flowering plants in the family Aquifoliaceae, and the only living genus in that family. ''Ilex'' has the most species of any woody dioecious angiosperm genus. The species are evergreen o ...

and

aspen Aspen is a common name for certain tree species; some, but not all, are classified by botanists in the section ''Populus'', of the '' Populus'' genus. Species These species are called aspens: *'' Populus adenopoda'' – Chinese aspen (Chin ...

. *Requires that at the time of burial, the body shall be contained in clothes, wrappings or a shroud made of natural cloths and materials. *Provides a variety of biodegradable coffins which contain no metal or plastic. *Forbids the decoration of graves with ornaments, toys or any non-biodegradable objects. The burial ground has no specific religious ties.

Media and awards

On 21 January 2005, Greenhaven director Nicholas Hargreaves took part in an interview about green burials for the

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC' ...

programme Changing Places: Pushing Up The Daisies. The burial ground also featured in The Breakfast Club show for BBC Radio Coventry and Warwickshire on 24 March 2006. In April 2000, Greenhaven won The New Natural Death Handbook Award 2000 for the Best Nature Reserve Ground in the UK. More recently, the burial ground was a finalist in the UK Cemetery of the Year Awards 2008.

The Future of Greenhaven

It is hoped that the site will be completely wooded by 2060 and passed over to a wildlife trust who will maintain it as a natural

ecosystem An ecosystem (or ecological system) consists of all the organisms and the physical environment with which they interact. These biotic and abiotic components are linked together through nutrient cycles and energy flows. Energy enters the syste ...

References

External links

Lilbourne Village

A list of woodland burial sites in the UK.
The Natural Death Centre
An article about green burials featuring the Greenhaven Woodland Burial Ground. {{Cemeteries in England Geography of Northamptonshire Cemeteries in Northamptonshire

Greenhaven’s Philosophy

Media and awards

The Future of Greenhaven

See also

References

External links