Date issued: 27 June 2019
Staff at Colchester Crematorium are getting ready to open the doors to their chapel on Sunday 7 July, for the 2019 Crematorium Open Day.
This free and popular annual event is an opportunity for visitors to take part in a behind-the-scenes tour and, afterwards, to explore the six-acres of tended lawns, rose beds, shrub borders and mature trees within the Garden of Remembrance.
Visitors will be shown around the crematorium chapel, waiting suite and the area behind the scenes where cremations take place. The friendly crematorium team will be on hand to answer questions, allay fears and dispel any myths about the cremation process.
Councillor Gerard Oxford, Portfolio Holder for Customers, said: “Around 70 per cent of all funerals in the UK involve cremation, but for many the process remains a mysterious and daunting event.
“That is why our crematorium staff always answer questions respectfully and sensitively to allay people’s fears. The experience it is not in the least bit morbid; this is an opportunity to get answers to the questions you thought you couldn’t ask.”
The red-brick crematorium chapel, which opened in 1957, nestles in the middle of the Garden of Remembrance, a tranquil green space that extends over six acres. Many of the roses, shrubs and trees are adopted in memory of loved ones and there are always some available for new adoptions. Other memorials in the Garden of Remembrance include granite niches, walls of remembrance, name towers and in a room opening from the garden, the Book of Remembrance.
Visitors will also be able to explore the adjoining cemetery, opened in 1856, which boasts over 1000 mature trees – many originating from a beautiful arboretum-standard Victorian planting scheme devised by Benjamin Cant. Its 64-acres also feature a multitude of plants and shrubs and a diversity of wildlife including jays, woodpeckers, owls, bats, muntjac deer, foxes and badgers.
Everyone is welcome to this free event (including accompanied children) and light refreshments will be provided. The event runs from 10.00am to 3.00pm on Sunday 7 July 2019 at Colchester Crematorium, Mersea Road, Colchester CO2 8RU. Visitors are advised to use the entrance gate close to the mini-roundabout junction with Abbott’s Road and to park in the crematorium car park.
Page last reviewed: 27 June 2019