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Funerals, burials and cremations

Find out how to arrange a funeral, burial or cremation.

Memorial headstone safety

Lairholders are responsible for the maintenance and repair of their lairs, including memorials and headstones. Dumfries and Galloway Council is responsible for the safety of members of the public, visitors and our team members within our cemeteries.

Dumfries and Galloway Council is a burial authority. Burial authorities have a legal obligation under the Health and Safety at Work Act etc. 1974 and the Occupiers Liability (Scotland) Act 1960 to ensure that, as far as is reasonably practicable, cemeteries are maintained in a safe condition. A programme of memorial and headstone safety inspections is a permanent responsibility of all burial authorities.

Any work done in our cemeteries must be completed in a sensitive and respectful manner. This has always been, and will continue to be, a priority for council officers and our contractors.

Following the very sad death of an eight-year-old boy in Glasgow in 2015, as a result of being hit by a falling headstone, Dumfries and Galloway Council, like other local authorities, started a programme of works in our cemeteries to inspect and make memorials and headstones safe, in line with national guidance.

The Scottish Government's Burial ground memorial safety: local authority guidance and The Ministry of Justice's Managing the safety of burial ground memorials: practical advice for dealing with unstable memorials are the primary focus of our headstone and memorial safety inspection regime and progressing the project within Dumfries and Galloway.

We have management rules in relation to the management of public burial grounds in Dumfries and Galloway which state:

  • the lairholder must keep tombs, monuments and other erections in good order and repair
  • where a memorial is found to be in an unsafe condition, the council reserves the right to make safe and charge the lair holder for any works carried out; the council may refuse further interments in these lairs until costs incurred have been paid in full

Read the latest memorial and headstone safety project committee report update.

Communication

We recognise that when we are working within our cemeteries, this is an extremely emotive subject which requires to be progressed sensitively. We are keen to ensure we can provide our communities with as much information as possible as it is important that we can keep you informed.

We will try and contact our communities and lair holders through various channels which will include the following:

  • signage will be displayed throughout cemeteries (at entrances, water points, benches, etc) to confirm that work is due to commence, this will include details of work and contact details for further information; this will be at least 28 days in advance of any work commencing
  • we will write to lair holders who we have details for to provide information on the issues found with their memorial/headstone; there is no guarantee of accurate lair ownership details being held due to the age of the some of the memorials/headstones; to mitigate these other options should be considered as detailed below
  • if records of lair owners or descendants are not known, contact will be made with local funeral directors and stone masons to determine if they have up to date contacts of lairholders
  • where it is safe to do so, add a sign to headstones confirming the date of inspection, that it is unsafe and contact details of our council to discuss options; a timescale for contact will be included but this will be dependent on the risk associated with the headstone/memorial; if headstones and memorials are deemed very unsafe and a risk to public safety, they will be made safe
  • use as many digital channels as possible to raise awareness of the project, including social media

Record information

A key part of the process of assessment and making safe is the accurate record keeping of individual memorials and headstones. Information recorded includes, date of inspection, memorial and headstone information, type of memorial, condition, the outcome of the inspection, photographic evidence and actions taken.

Listed building consent

We will check statutory designations within a burial ground and/or an individual memorial and apply for listed building consent or scheduled prior to works commencing. We will also discuss with Historic Environment Scotland (HES) if applicable.

Further information

Contact us if you have any enquiries or would like to discuss the headstone safety project:

Telephone: 030 33 33 3000
Email: [email protected]

Completed work

Work has been completed at the following cemeteries:

  1. Dryfesdale, Lockerbie
  2. Moffat Old Cemetery
  3. Dumfries High Cemetery
  4. Dumfries St Mary's Greyfriars
  5. Dumfries St Michael's Old Cemetery
  6. Dumfries, Troqueer Church yard
  7. Annan Old Church
  8. Dryfesdale Churchyard, Lockerbie
  9. Moffat Cemetery Old Cemetery
  10. Dumfries St Michael's
  11. Dumfries Troqueer, Old Cemetery
  12. Kirkconnel Churchyard
  13. Morton, Thornhill
  14. Kirk Wynd, Langholm Church yard
  15. Ecclefechan Churchyard
  16. Stranraer, Glebe
  17. Stranraer, Sheuchan
  18. Stranraer, St Andrews
  19. Portpatrick Old Cemetery
  20. Portpatrick St Andrews
  21. Newton Stewart Old Cemetery
  22. Whithorn, St Ninians
  23. Minnigaff Churchyard
  24. Whithorn Cemetery
  25. Wigtown, St Machutus
  26. Wednesday 21 September
  27. Kirkcudbright Cemetery
  28. Castle Douglas Cemetery
  29. Sanquhar Cemetery
  30. Dalbeattie Cemetery
  31. New Abbey Cemetery
  32. Newton Stewart, St Couans
  33. Kirkcolm Churchyard
  34. Leswalt Old Cemetery
  35. Leswalt Old Churchyard
  36. Stoneykirk Old Churchyard
  37. Stranraer, Church Street
  38. Creetown, Kirkmabreck Churchyard
  39. Glenluce Old Luce Churchyard
  40. Kirkcowan Cemetery
  41. Kirkinner Cemetery
  42. Kirkinner Churchyard (St Kennera)
  43. Mochrum
  44. Sorbie Old Kirk
  45. Wigtown Top Cemetery
  46. Carsphairn Churchyard and Cemetery
  47. Dalry Churchyard
  48. Girthon Cemetery, Old Gatehouse
  49. Girthon Old Churchyard, Sandgreen Road
  50. Kells Churchyard, New Galloway
  51. Tongland Churchyard
  52. Twynholm Churchyard
  53. Annan Old Cemetery
  54. Dornock Churchyard
  55. Brydekirk Churchyard
  56. Lochmaben Old Cemetery
  57. Carruthers Churchyard, Waterbeck
  58. Old Cemetery Church Street
  59. Balmaclellan Churchyard
  60. Terregles Churchyard
  61. Crossmichael Churchyard
  62. Kirkgunzeon Churchyard
  63. Corsock Churchyard
  64. Kirkbean Churchyard
  65. Dunscore Churchyard
  66. Glencairn Churchyard and Cemetery, near Moniaive
  67. Penpont Churchyard ans Cemetery
  68. Keir Churchyard, Keir Mill
  69. St Conal's Cemetery, Kirkconnel
  70. Wanlockhead Old Churchyard
  71. Kirkmahoe Churchyard and Cemetery, Kirkton
  72. Tinwald Churchyard
  73. Torthorwald Churchyard
  74. Dumfries, St Andrews Cemetery
  75. Dalton Churchyard
  76. Applegarth Churchyard

Work to be done

The following cemeteries are in progress:

  1. Kirkpatrick Durham Churchyard
  2. Annan Cemetery
  3. Johnstonebridge Cemetery
  4. Hutton and Corrie Churchyard, Boreland
  5. Tundergarth Churchyard
  6. Kirkmichael Churchyard, near Parkgate
  7. Canonbie Old and New Cemetery
  8. Kirkpatrick Fleming Churchyard
  9. Langholm Cemetery Old Cemetery
  10. Rigg Cemetery, Gretna

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