Facilities

The chapel has a light, natural look and is built in local wood and stone. It has a warm and comforting setting, with a large picture window allowing stunning views of the countryside beyond.

An integrated state of the art media system provides an almost infinite music library.
Tradition is not forgotten though & the multi faith chapel is fitted with a Viscount organ. All forms of music are welcome and our team will be pleased to offer any advice you may require. Our chapel is also fitted with Tribute screens which allows photographs to be displayed during the service, often to accompany a selection of music. We aim to provide the best possible level of service and please do not hesitate to contact us if we can help you in any way.

With the only purpose built crematorium in the Borders we are able to seat 100 people with standing space for a further 50. Speakers are also located in the entrance area and outside of the chapel allowing a larger attendance to be catered for.

We offer a range of services throughout the week to provide more choice to the families we serve. For service information, visit this page.

We feel that it is essential that you are able to hold the funeral of your choice and our chapel can be altered, with prior arrangement, to create a suitable environment for a service of any religion or belief.

The floral tribute area is set slightly away from the chapel, offering a quiet spot to gather with friends and family after the service. Floral tributes will remain on display outside for a minimum of three nights.

There are approximately 70 allocated parking spaces.

We have a modern digital music system that can provide almost any music choice that is requested. Please contact us for further information on our current music library.

1. Crematorium Rules & Regulations

SECTION A - GENERAL INFORMATION

1. The following regulations have been designed and formulated for the control and use of Borders Crematorium.

2. All correspondence should be addressed to:

Borders Crematorium, Melrose TD6 9HA

Tel: 01896 823357
Fax: 01896 823460
Borders@westerleighgroup.co.uk

3. Crematorium Opening Times:

Office

Monday - Friday 9.00am - 5.00pm

Grounds

Weekdays
April to Sept	9am to 6pm
October to March	9am to 5pm
Weekends and Public Holidays	10am to 4.30pm

4. Dogs Shall not be permitted in the grounds unless on a lead. Children below 15 years of age, will not be permitted to enter the Crematorium unless accompanied by a responsible adult.

5. Vehicles. Cars are allowed in the Crematorium but drivers shall not exceed the speed limit of 5 mph. Cars must only be driven on the main carriageways. On no account may cars be driven on footpaths, grass areas or planted areas. All vehicles must be parked neatly to allow access to other vehicles.

6. The Crematorium company shall not be held responsible for the safe keeping of any wreaths, flowers, plants or any other objects placed in the Crematorium nor any damage caused to memorials by high winds or storms, or other factors outside their control. An incident book is kept at the office for recording thefts of any type and the police will be informed of more serious crimes and if a high incidence of thefts occurs.

7. All persons shall conduct themselves in a decent, quiet and orderly manner. The General Manager is empowered to take such action as he/she may consider appropriate against any person who may:
- Commit any nuisance in the Crematorium.
- Wilfully create any disturbance in the Crematorium.
- Wilfully interfere with any burial taking place
- Wilfully interfere with any grave or memorial or any plants, flowers or other such objects in the Crematorium.
- Play at any game or sport in the Crematorium.

8. Visitors to the Crematorium shall not unreasonably interrupt any employee at their duties or employ them to execute private works within the Crematorium or extend to them any gratuity. All enquiries, complaints and requests by members of the public must be made to the Crematorium office and not to workmen in the Crematorium.

9. No person not being an officer or servant of the Crematorium or another person so authorised by or on behalf of the Crematorium Company shall enter or remain in the Crematorium at an hour when it is closed to the public.

10. The taking of commercial photographs and filming is not permitted in the Crematorium except with the prior approval and permission of the manager in writing and upon payment of the appropriate fee. Photographs of individual graves by approval with the grave owner are allowed.

11. No person shall operate any sound equipment or play any musical instrument in the Crematorium without the prior consent of the manager. This should not discourage people from singing at the graveside or playing a favorite song quietly with the acknowledgement of the manager.

12. The Crematorium Company reserves the right to close the Crematorium and crematorium grounds on any day should it be considered that circumstances so warrant.

13. The sale of goods, services, plants or other articles, the soliciting of orders or repair of memorials or for work connected with graves is strictly prohibited within the grounds of the Crematorium. All such services and requests should be met by the Crematorium office.

14. No employee of the Crematorium Company are allowed to undertake privately, any work or favour of any kind nor receive any gratuity for the said work of favour.

15. The placing of stone paving slabs, timber, etc around and leading to a grave space is strictly prohibited and shall be removed without prior notice on the grounds of health and safety and to satisfy the insurance underwriter of the company.

16. Any plants, vases or any other item placed outside the grave space shall be removed without prior notice.

17. All persons entering into the crematorium grounds shall conform to all respects with the rematorium regulations and shall be subject to the orders of the manager and staff who have full power to exclude from the Crematorium any member of the public whom may be deemed fit to exclude. Should it be necessary to use physical force to remove a subject the Police shall be summoned.

18. These rules and regulations shall be final.

19. The Crematorium Company reserves the right to make any alterations and additions to the rules and regulations of the Crematorium at any time it feels fit.

20. Rubbish must be placed in the receptacles provided for this purpose. No household rubbish must be left in the Crematorium or dumped.

21. The Crematorium fees are displayed in the Crematorium Office and are revised from January 1st. Services after this date will be charged the revised rate.

Cremated Remains

1. The interment or scattering of cremated remains will only be permitted (and recorded in the cremation registers) when carried out in the presence of the manager or their authorised staff and only after the necessary documentation has been completed.

2. The certificate for Disposal of Cremated Remains issued by the Crematorium where the cremation took place must be delivered to the office before the interment or scattering of ashes can take place. Failure to deliver such Certificate will result in postponement of the interment or scattering until such time as the certificate can be produced.

SECTION B - REGULATIONS CONCERNING CREMATIONS

1. A cremation can only legally take place when the Crematorium has the Registrars Certificate for Disposal or a Coroners Order for Cremation as well as Form A (Application for Cremation). Without these forms in no circumstances will a cremation be carried out.

2. The above forms must be received by the Crematorium Office by 12 noon on the working day prior to the service taking place. Failure to provide these forms may cause the cremation to be postponed until such time that these can be produced.

3. The forms will be submitted on those provided by the crematorium and the appropriate fee paid before the cremation takes place, unless an account arrangement has been made with the General Manager.

4. Where the external dimensions of a coffin are likely to exceed length 81inches (206cm): width 28inches (71 cms): depth 22inches (56cms) the Manager of the Crematorium must be consulted as soon as practicable.

5. The number of mourners permitted to enter the crematory for a witnessed cremation is six persons. This can only take place with the prior consent of the Manager and at his or her discretion.

6. The Funeral Director, or persons effecting the cremation must provide sufficient staff to convey the coffin into the chapel.

7. Every body brought to the crematorium must be contained in a suitable coffin or shroud. No coffin or shroud should be accepted unless it bears adequate particulars of the identity of the deceased therein.

8. The crematorium will store the resulting cremated remains for a period of 3 months before they are scattered in the Garden of Remembrance, unless instructions to the contrary are given at the time of applying for the cremation.

9. If no instructions are given regarding the use of floral tributes, they will remain in the floral tribute area at the side of the chapel for 3 days, including the day of the funeral. After this period the flowers will then be disposed of.

10. Any music requirements must be communicated to the crematorium office at least 48 working hours before the service is due to take place. We always recommend using our In-house Music System, however If pre-recorded music is to be played on CD’s, each piece of music must be clearly marked and in the correct playing order. The crematorium accepts no responsibility for poor quality recordings or damage to worn out CD’s or mistakes due to the inadequate labelling of pieces of music. CD’s must be brought to the Crematorium 48 working hours before the service to be tested.

12. The cremation of body parts is permitted on the completion of the appropriate forms and the payment of the appropriate fee.

13. The cremation of Pregnancy Loss is permitted with the production of the Medical Practioner’s or Midwife’s certificate of delivery.

SECTION C - REGULATIONS RELATING TO MEMORIALS

1. All memorials must be supplied and fixed by the Crematorium Company. No external stone masons will be permitted to carry out work in the Crematorium.

2. Inscriptions can contain relaxed expressions such as “Mum” and “Dad”, nicknames etc. The only regulation to this policy is that no inscription should contain words or sentiments which may be offensive to another visitor in the opinion of the General Manager.

3. Should the registered owner of the Exclusive Right of Burial be deceased, a transfer of ownership must be arranged before any approval for works to any memorial can be given.

4. All memorials erected are maintained at the expense of the owner of the Exclusive Right of Burial of that particular grave. Where memorials split, crack or become dangerous, the grave owner shall be required to have that memorial repaired, refixed or relevelled so that it shall be safe at all times.

5. The Crematorium reserves the right without notice to:
a) Remove or make safe any memorial which in their opinion is a danger or could become a danger to any person in the Crematorium or crematorium grounds.
b) To remove temporarily any memorial or part of the memorial if such a course of action appears to the General Manager to be desirable.
c) To recover all reasonable costs in making any memorial safe from the grantee or their representative

6. Every memorial design or idea for commemoration will be considered by the company and that choice will be provided if it is reasonable for the company to do so. This will not include though materials which cause particular environmental harm such as the use of teak and other rainforest timbers for garden benches.

Date of Operation:

These regulations shall come into force on 13th December 2011.