Cemeteries

Bookings and burial times

All burial bookings are taken through the Cemetery Office. Burials take place:

Monday to Thursday 9 – 11:30am and 1:30 – 2:30pm

Friday 9 – 11:30am and 1:30 – 2:00pm

New purchase graves

If a new purchase grave is required, the applicant will be given the opportunity of meeting a cemetery officer at an appointed time to choose an available grave site. Alternatively we can allocate a site upon request.

Exclusive rights of burial are issued to the applicant(s) for a 50 year period which ensures the applicant is the only person who can decide who is buried in the grave and what type of memorial is erected.

Reopening a grave

If a grave is to be reopened for a new burial, it is necessary to obtain the permission of the original holder of the exclusive rights. If the original grave documents are lost, then some investigation must be made into where the rights are held and this must be achieved before the grave is opened for burial.

Cemetery maintenance

The grounds maintenance and grave digging within the cemeteries is carried out by our own dedicated team of staff. All areas of the cemeteries are subject to a standard level of maintenance.

An annual grave maintenance scheme is in operation for traditional grave sites where there are options to plant, box hedge or soil the grave - there is an annual fee for this service.

Headstones and memorials

The headstone or memorial placed on a grave is always the property of the applicant. To arrange for a headstone or memorial to be sited, there is an application form to be completed with an approved stonemason. Only authorised masons are able to fix memorials within the cemetery as they have been vetted for their fixing method and hold the required public liability insurance.

Each memorial is tested for stability every five years. Those that fail the stability test will be temporarily supported by a clamp for six months allowing time for the grave owner to get it fixed - we will contact the grave owner where practicably possible. After six months the memorial will be tested again and if it fails, the headstone will be laid flat.

In the case of a headstone which has been clamped or laid flat, please use our list of authorised masons. Under no circumstances try and re-erect the memorial yourself - this could result in serious injury to you or members of the public.

We understand how upsetting it can be for families to visit a grave and find their memorial clamped or laid flat. If you have any further questions or concerns please contact us.

Authorised masons

The memorial masons on this list have agreed to abide by the Cemetery rules and regulations under the control of this Authority (West, North and East Cemeteries, Darlington), to adhere to the Code of Practice issued by the National Association of Monumental Masons (NAMM) and have complied with all our registration requirements.  Funeral Directors and any other person acting as an agent should ensure that their contracted mason is included before processing any memorial application.

This list shows those masons who are registered to carry out work within our Cemeteries, Darlington Borough Council does not recommend individual masons or accept any responsibility for their workmanship.

Grave owners are reminded that they own the memorial and are responsible for ensuring it remains in good repair.

The Council carries out memorial safety checks and any memorial found to be unsafe or dangerous would result in remedial action and the owner being notified.

Family history or searches

We can assist in searches, but this work is not given priority and we require you to provide as much detailed information as possible to assist in the search. Microfilmed copies of the burial registers are available to view at the Local studies centre at Crown Street library.

Darlington register office also has a search facility on this website, which is useful to clarify the year someone has died.