At St Mark’s, we take our responsibilities to bereaved families seriously. We work hard to ensure that the churchyard, and especially the Garden of Remembrance, is a place where people can remember their loved ones.

There is a natural desire to place individual memorials for those we love, and we are aware that recently a lot of individual memorials have appeared in the Garden of Remembrance and the churchyard. In order to keep the Garden of Remembrance as a place which is neat and tidy for all, we are intending to collect in these individual memorials.

As a church we are required to follow the Church of England’s Churchyard Regulations 2025. In these regulations, “portable items” – such as individual memorial plaques, flower holders, and other items – cannot be left at a grave for longer than one month after an interment.

Wreaths and poppies are also only permitted for the periods of Remembrance Day, Christmas, Easter and the anniversaries of birth, death or marriage.

We would, therefore, like to invite families and friends who attended interments of loved ones more than one month ago to collect any such items that have been placed in the churchyard as soon as they are able.

On 4th July 2026, we are intending to remove any remaining items that have not been collected from the Garden of Remembrance and the churchyard. These will be kept for a period of time for collection before being recycled.

If you have any questions, please contact:

stmarks-bilton@outlook.com