Burial Services
While choosing a final resting place for your loved one can be difficult, it’s also an opportunity to create a permanent place of remembrance for your friends and family to visit. A place where memories are shared, achievements are celebrated and where mourning can occur naturally.
We work closely with many cemetery operators across Sydney and surrounds. You may choose to have the funeral service at the Graveside or follow on from a Church or a Chapel.
Types of Burials
We can advise you on a variety of burial options for your loved one, including family grave burials, community burials and children burials. Below are the most common burial options:
Below Ground Burials (Lawn and Monumental) – You can select a personalised headstone, plaque or monumental grave depending on the chosen cemetery. Most cemeteries have different sections with various options available.
Above Ground Burials (Crypts and Family Vaults) – Families may choose a crypt, a family vault or mausoleum interment. Crypts can be purchased as a single or double arrangement at various cemeteries. With an above ground burial there are certain requirements which are necessary such as embalming, particular coffin or casket specifications. We will help guide you through this process.
Community / Cultural Burials – These lawns are specially created for people of similar faith and origin to be buried in a designated section of the cemetery together as a community. This creates a community that honours certain religious beliefs and geographical cultures.
Natural Burials – Sydney’s only Natural Burial Park is located within Kemps Creek Cemetery and is one of only two in New South Wales. This special place, St Francis Natural Burial Park, allows your loved one to be buried in an environmentally friendly way, in a beautiful natural setting. A natural burial is in harmony with nature, so the body is prepared without chemical preservatives. Using materials from natural fibres and a biodegradable coffin allows remains to return to the earth organically.
To ensure that the habitat is kept as natural as possible, there are no formal headstones or monuments nor artificial wreaths or tributes. Although graves remain unmarked, each grave is mapped and surveyed using GPS technology to accurately record locations for visiting cherished memorials.
Cemeteries
There are many owners and operators of cemeteries and their prices will all differ. There is also smaller church-owned cemeteries, but most are already full. All cemeteries have sections within them to cater for all denominations. Below are some of the most well-known.
Testimonials
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, this occurs regularly. Most cemeteries have allowances for cremated remains to be placed in burial sites. If the person who wishes to be cremated passes first, often the ashes are held by the family until the spouse passes and are then placed in the coffin prior to burial. The cemetery must be advised in all cases so that records are correct and appropriate inscriptions can include both persons on the headstone.
This is completely a personal choice, either way it is important that your wishes are communicated with your family to save them making this difficult decision on your behalf.
Currently in NSW there are two cemeteries that offer Natural Burial. Kemps Creek Cemetery in Western Sydney and Lismore Bushland Cemetery in Northern NSW.
A natural burial is in harmony with nature, so the body (or cremated remains) is prepared without chemical preservatives. Using materials from natural fibres and a biodegradable coffin allows remains to return to the earth organically. To ensure that the habitat is kept as natural as possible, there are no formal headstones or monuments nor artificial wreaths or tributes. Although graves remain unmarked, each grave is mapped and surveyed using GPS technology to accurately record locations for visiting cherished memorials.
Metropolitan Sydney faced the prospect of running short of grave sites by 2051, according to a 2017 report released by Cemeteries and Crematoria NSW. Approval to build the second largest necropolis in NSW will help address a looming crisis in the supply of graves in the state. Works have begun on a non-denominational cemetery in Varroville, Campbelltown, which will have 136,000 burial plots and be run by Catholic Metropolitan Cemeteries Trust. The Macarthur Memorial Park will extend the deadline by 30 years, but more land is urgently needed.
Contact Us
At Nepean Valley Funerals, we advise you on various burial options to create the perfect resting place. To learn more about our burial options, call 02 4722 8222.