The churchyard at Hartshorne is ‘open’, i.e. there is still space for burials, therefore it is the responsibility of the church to maintain it. The grass is cut on a regular basis by a team of volunteers. We do ask for your help in the the upkeep of the churchyard by following these guidelines:
Please do make sure that you keep all flower and plant containers within the area of the headstone so that the grass can be cut easily.
We know that many people who visit and leave tributes do not live locally. For that reason, we try to remove flowers that are well past their best and seasonal tributes at the end of that season. If you visit frequently, please do make sure that yours are removed to the bin area, which is next to the south wall of the Church.
Make sure that only vegetation is put in the brown bin. Plastic wrappers, plastics flowers, foam, dead wreaths, etc. should go in the black bin or taken home to be disposed of.
Churchyards are a valuable possession and a great responsibility. They can easily be spoiled by unsuitable gravestones and memorials. The Chancellor of the Diocese of Derby has therefore updated regulations which are designed to assist all those who are concerned with the erection of memorials and gravestones to ensure that they are appropriate and will harmonise with the natural local landscape.
The following memorials or features will generally be considered unsuitable and unacceptable in the churchyards of the diocese:
a. Memorials in highly polished, brightly coloured, black or white materials,
including black, blue, red, green or white granites and all polished granites;
any marble, synthetic stone, terracotta, metal, glass or plastic;
b. Memorials in the shape of a heart or any other object (other than an upright
headstone, a horizontal slab, a cross or a book, as above);
c. Memorials with kerbed surrounds, railings, chains, chippings or glass
shades;
d. Cursive script; leaded lettering; trademarks or advertisements;
e. Large (more than 10cm (4”) by 10cm (4”)) carved, but uncoloured motifs or
images, and coloured or painted motifs or images of any size;
f. Images of the deceased, whether photographs, etched photographs,
ceramic portraits or cameos;
g. Stone, concrete, metal, plaster, glass or plastic objects, e.g. model people,
animals or toys;
h. Freestanding containers e.g. vases or birdbaths
i. Moving items such as windmills or windchimes;
j. Lighting, including solar lights or candles;
k. QR or other machine-readable codes.
Extract from Derby Diocese Churchyard Regulations 2021 – see below
Only parishioners, including those on the Church Electoral Roll, or dying in the parish, have a right to burial or interment of ashes in the churchyard, if there is room. Nobody else has that right, although in very exceptional circumstances permission may be granted for the burial of those otherwise excluded. A right to be buried in a churchyard does NOT however include the right to erect a memorial or gravestone to the deceased.
Please read these leaflets for more information:
Derby Diocese Churchyard Regulations 2021
For details of graves in the new part of the churchyard and the Garden of Remembrance see the Help in finding someone’s grave page.
If you are researching your family tree and want to find out more about burials in St Peter’s Churchyard, please look at the Family History page.