The Local Authorities' Cemeteries Order 1977

PART I EXERCISE OF RIGHTS

1.  No burial shall take place, no cremated human remains shall be scattered and no tombstone or other memorial shall be placed in a cemetery, and no additional inscription shall be made on a tombstone or other memorial, without the permission of the officer appointed for that purpose by the burial authority.

2.  No body shall be buried in a grave in such a manner that any part of the coffin is less than three feet below the level of any ground adjoining the grave:

Provided that the burial authority may, where they consider the soil to be of suitable character, permit a coffin made of perishable materials to be placed not less than two feet below the level of any ground adjoining the grave.

3.  No body shall be buried in a grave unless the coffin is effectively separated from any coffin interred in the grave on a previous occasion by means of a layer of earth not less than six inches thick.

4.  When any grave is reopened for the purpose of making another burial therein, no person shall disturb any human remains interred therein or remove therefrom any soil which is offensive.

5.  Every walled grave or vault shall be properly constructed of suitable materials.

6.  Within 24 hours of any burial in a walled grave or vault, the coffin shall be—

(a) embedded in concrete, and covered with a layer of concrete not less than six inches thick; or

(b) enclosed in a separate cell or compartment of brick, slate, stone flagging or precast concrete slabs of a 1:2:4 mix, in any case not less than two inches thick, in such a manner as to prevent, as far as may be practicable, the escape of any noxious gas from the interior of the cell or compartment.

7.  Any person to whose order a body is buried in a grave in respect of which an exclusive right of burial has been granted shall, as soon as conveniently may be after the subsidence of the earth has been completed, cause the surface of the grave to be covered with any tombstone or other memorial in respect of which a right has been granted by the burial authority or any predecessor of theirs, or with fresh turf, or, where the burial authority permit, with such flowering or other plants, or in such other manner, as may be permitted.

8.  Where the burial authority permit uncoffined burials, any reference in this Part to a coffin includes a reference to the wrappings of an uncoffined body.