Deaths, funerals and cremations FAQs
Click a question to reveal the answer.
Q: How are cremated remains kept separate?
Q: Are coffins sold back to the funeral directors?
No. The coffin and the body inside are cremated together. There are occasions where the deceased or the family of the deceased have opted for using a cardboard coffin in which their loved one will be cremated. When this happens families sometimes want to have a more aesthetically pleasing coffin or container on the catafalque during the service. Families therefore will opt for either a pall (a cloth covering the cardboard coffin), or a 'cocoon coffin' (an outer shell that covers the cardboard coffin) or will decorate a cardboard coffin themselves. Neither the pall nor the cocoon is cremated. It is important to understand that the pall and cocoon do NOT contain the body of the deceased; they are simply superficial coverings for a cardboard coffin.
Q: How soon after the ceremony will the cremation take place?
Q: What religious ceremony can I have with cremation?
Q: How is a cremation arranged?
Q: Can relatives witness the committal of the coffin to the cremator?
Q: Is the coffin cremated with the body?
Q: What are the Gardens of Remembrance at a crematorium?
Q: What types of grave are available at Wandsworth's cemeteries?
Q: I have a lawn grave. Why can’t I put a full memorial over its surface?
Q: After a funeral, when is the grave filled in?
