A new eco-friendly burial ground has been officially opened by Vale MP John Bercow.
The site at Stockwell Lane, Little Meadle, near Owlswick, offers ‘natural burials’ in beautiful rural surroundings and will be run by Leedam Natural Heritage.
It has come about after farmer Dorothy Brock decided she wanted to be laid to rest on the farm where she has spent her whole life.
She said: “Since I decided to do this, so many people have told me they like the idea. You can see so many local landmarks from the meadow and has a special, peaceful feeling to it.”
Working with Leedam, Dorothy and her daughter Sally Whitworth achieved their aim to make it into an alternative resting place available to everyone.
Leedam defines natural burials as when the ‘body is returned to the earth in a biodegradable coffin, wearing only natural materials as opposed to artificial fabrics, without toxic preservative treatment and at shallower depth, to encourage transformation by nature in the living layer of the soil’.
There are no headstones as ‘these would detract from the natural landscape which we are aiming to preserve’.
However, the plots are marked on a detailed plan of the site.