Cemeteries

The Council operates nine cemeteries in the following areas:

• Cymmer
• Goytre
• Margam
• Ynysmaerdy
• Cwmbedd (Giants Grave)
• Onllwyn
• Llantwit
• Carmel
• Godre’r Graig

Cemeteries Office staff are available to assist bereaved families, Funeral Directors and Monumental Masons.  The telephone contact is 01639 686121/ 686122/ 686147 and available from Monday-Thursday 8.45am-4pm Friday 8.45am-3.30pm.

The Council recognises the needs of the bereaved by providing a dignified and sensitive cemeteries service which offers as much choice as possible for people to express their grief in the way they feel most appropriate.  We achieve this through a comprehensive service designed to:

• maintain cemetery grounds to give a pleasant and appropriate appearance
• provide an efficient and accurate response for burial arrangements
• ensure that all buildings within cemetery grounds are well maintained and operated
• provide a dignified service for interments

New graves are available at Margam, Cymmer, Llantwit, Ynysymaerdy, Godre’r graig and Carmel cemeteries. Subject to space, family members can also be buried in existing graves. Areas have been set aside in each cemetery for the burial of cremated remains with the option to erect memorial tablets. Margam Cemetery has a children's garden of remembrance.

Muslim burials

There are areas set aside for Muslim burials at Llantwit and Margam cemeteries.

Burial booking details

The Cemeteries Office is responsible for accepting booking details from Funeral Directors or families and instructing operations staff of the arrangements. When possible, interments will be accommodated 3 clear working days after all relevant information is provided.

Funeral Directors are responsible for ensuring that all information provided is correct and that the applicant has the right to re-open a grave. If a memorial is to be removed, the Funeral Director will instruct a Monumental Mason accordingly and the removal must be carried out as soon as possible after the booking.

The interment notice must be received by the Cemeteries Office at least 48 hours prior to the interment along with full remittance.  Where a new grave or cremation plot is purchased, the applicant will be recorded as the rights owner of the grave/plot and the relevant Exclusive Rights sent to that person. It is essential to ensure that the correct family member is making the application, as thereafter, they will have legal control of and responsibility for burials in the grave and memorials laid upon it.

Cemetery rules & guidance

Management of the Council’s cemeteries conforms to the requirements of the Local Government Act 1972 and the Local Authorities Cemeteries Order 1977. These statutory instruments set out the powers and duties of a burial authority. The Council also has its own Cemetery Rules and Regulations. For a copy of the Rules and Regulations, please contact the Cemeteries Office. All grave excavations and burial preparations are performed by the burial service’s own staff and carried out with due reverence, efficiency, safety and cost effectiveness.

Burial of coffins

Funeral Directors or families request a depth of grave for interment at the time of booking. Every effort is made to accommodate the request although it is not always possible to achieve the desired depth due to adverse ground conditions. Families will be informed when their specified depth is compromised.

The cemetery service operates on the basis that the coffin measurements provided by Funeral Directors allow for any protrusion such as handles or ornamentation. Allowances in dimensions are then made by cemetery personnel to enable access of the coffin into the grave.  Each grave is supported by specialist shoring equipment and can accommodate a maximum coffin length of 1980mm (6’6”). Coffin sizes above these dimensions require special attention and additional time to prepare the grave. 

Sometimes, requests are received to re-open graves where the remaining depth is unknown. In such cases, it may be necessary to test dig the grave to reveal if sufficient depth is available. The applicant or Funeral Director will be responsible for appointing a Monumental Mason to remove any memorial upon the grave.

Grave surrounds are dressed with grass matting to present a pleasant appearance to funeral parties.

Cremated remains

Sections have been allotted at every cemetery for the interment of cremated remains.  Each plot is smaller than a full size grave and can contain 4 sets of cremated remains. Cremated remains can also be interred in full size graves. Full size graves can hold numerous cremated remains but thought should be given to the limited available space for inscriptions on memorials.

Scattering of cremated remains

Scattering cremated remains in Council cemeteries requires formal notification and the approval of the rights owner to the grave. A fee applies for this service. The Council is legally obliged to maintain records of all interments including scatterings of ashes.

Grants of exclusive rights of burial and ownership of graves and cremation plots

Purchase of an Exclusive Right of Burial to a grave or cremation plot gives the owner the right to determine future interments and to place a memorial upon the grave or cremation plot. The rights do not constitute any ownership of land which remains with the Council. Where the grant owner is interred in the grave, the right can be transferred to another person by Assignment or Statutory Declaration subject to agreement of all family members entitled to a claim of ownership on the transferred rights.

Memorials

Memorials can play an important part of the grieving process, providing a focal point for visits and a lasting reminder of the deceased.  Provision is made for the establishment of a variety of such memorials in the Council’s Cemetery Rules and Regulations. For a copy of the Rules and Regulations, please contact the Cemeteries Office

Permit applications for memorials

The Cemeteries Office must approve all new memorials and any changes to existing memorials prior to work commencing.   Applications for permits must contain details of designs, dimensions and wording.

Memorial testing in Council managed cemeteries

A memorial safety policy which formalises current working procedures for safety testing of gravestones, monuments and other cemetery memorials is in place.

Cemeteries Office

• Service Response Centre, The Quays, Brunel Way, Baglan Energy Park, Neath, SA11 2GG
• Telephone: (01639) 686121 / 686122 / 686147
• E-mail: cemeteries@npt.gov.uk
• Office hours: Monday-Thursday 8.45am-4pm Friday 8.45am-3.30pm