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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:

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. Kirkcolm Churchyard
  33. Stoneykirk Old Churchyard
  34. Kirkinner Churchyard (St Kennera Churchyard)
  35. Newton Stewart, St Couans
  36. Leswalt Old Churchyard
  37. Leswalt Old Cemetery
  38. Sorbie Old Kirk Churchyard
  39. Creetown, Kirkmabreck Churchyard
  40. Lochmaben Old Cemetery, Lochmaben

Work to be done

The following cemeteries are in progress:

  1. Stranraer, Church Street
  2. Glenluce Old Luce Churchyard, and Old Cemetery Church Street
  3. Mochrum Churchyard
  4. Wigtown Top Cemetery
  5. Kirkcowan Cemetery
  6. Kirkinner Cemetery
  7. Balmaclellan Churchyard
  8. Dalry Churchyard
  9. Girthon Cemetery, Old Gatehouse
  10. Kells Churchyard, New Galloway
  11. Twynholm Churchyard
  12. Carsphairn Churchyard and Cemetery
  13. Girthon Old Churchyard, Sandgreen Road
  14. Tongland Churchyard
  15. Terregles Churchyard
  16. Crossmichael Churchyard
  17. Kirkgunzeon Churchyard
  18. Kirkpatrick Durham Churchyard
  19. Corsock Churchyard
  20. Kirkbean Churchyard
  21. Dunscore Churchyard
  22. Glencairn Churchyard  and Cemetery, near Moniaive
  23. Penpont Churchyard and Cemetery
  24. Keir Churchyard, Keir Mill
  25. St Conal's Cemetery, Kirkconnel
  26. Wanlockhead Old Churchyard
  27. Kirkmahoe Churchyard and Cemetery, Kirkton
  28. Tinwald Churchyard
  29. Torthorwald Churchyard
  30. Dumfries, St Andrews Cemetery
  31. Annan Old Cemetery, Annan
  32. Annan Cemetery
  33. Dalton Churchyard
  34. Dornock Cemetery, near Eastriggs
  35. Dornock Churchyard
  36. Johnstonebridge Cemetery
  37. Lochmaben Cemetery
  38. Brydekirk Churchyard
  39. Hutton and Corrie Churchyard, Boreland
  40. Tundergarth Churchyard
  41. Applegarth Churchyard
  42. Kirkmichael Churchyard, near Parkgate
  43. Canonbie Old and New Cemetery
  44. Kirkpatrick Fleming Churchyard
  45. Langholm Cemetery Old Cemetery
  46. Rigg Cemetery, Gretna
  47. Carruthers Churchyard and Cemetery, Waterbeck 

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