To think there is a grave in my garden?

[IsItATomb]

NC for this as the pics are outing.

Moved in to my house in April and it has what I thought is a really ugly raised bed in the garden. Now the summer has arrived I've realised it gets no sunshine on it at all so isn't a raised bed after all.

DD and I were pottering our there this afternoon and we came across this plaque on the raised bed.

WTF.

Is it a coincidence or is it a grave?!

[AccioCoffee]

You'll have to get digging to find out op

[Rachie1973]

Maybe it was a memory garden or something

[BettaSplenden]

Looks very suspect.

[Thefemalekeithrichards]

Crikey....that’s really creepy but possibly just a memorial garden ? You aren’t allowed to put graves in garden are you ...as far as I know anyway. I’m positive someone can advise.

[Triathlon989]

Are you sure its not a septic tank?

[ReganSomerset]

Surely that raised bed is too big to be a grave. Aren't they usually only as wide as needed?

[azulmariposa]

Ooh creepy. I think if you find anything you'll have to report to the police.

[bebeboeuf]

Could there be a way of checking history?

The concrete can’t date more than 60 years?

[SushiGo]

If there is a grave in the garden it should be on the deeds of the house.

Hopefully just a memory garden?

[OldUnit]

There's almost definitely a body in there.

[Runningintothesunset]

If it is a grave it should have been marked in the deeds of your house! I think it’s probably a memorial garden. Are there any neighbours around who’ve been there a while who would know?

[bebeboeuf]

You’re allowed to put graves on common land so assume you can put graves in a garden too so long as you’re not burying someone that shouldn’t be dead

[katewhinesalot]

There was another thread a while ago. I seem to remember that there were houses where graves were in the garden. Anyone with a better memory?

[theclockticksslowly]

Any neighbours who have been there a while and may know something?

[Tigerbandage]

Have you bought the house or renting?
You can legally bury a body in your garden, but if you bought it I’m pretty sure the solicitor should have found this out

[bebeboeuf]

It’s not a former chapel possibly?

[SushiGo]

Yes, you can bury people in your garden, it's completely legal. But you do have to add the location to your deeds.

Good summary here www.attwatersjamesonhill.co.uk/news/can-i-buried-garden/

[IsItATomb]

It's very creepy.

The person who owned it before me was an elderly lady who passed away. I'll ask my NDN when I see them and see if they know anything.

Good shout about it being a memorial, I am going to dig it up and see

[Triathlon989]

www.gardenlaw.co.uk/gardenburial.html

You can bury someone in your garden legally.

But if the previous owners did so I think they should have mentioned it when they sold on.

[BooseysMom]

Yeah i second a memory garden. No one in their right mind would bury someone there then move leaving the grave..surely Weird they left the plaque. We had a memory garden for my DM but when my DF moved he took the plaque with him

[MyOpinionIsValid]

@Thefemalekeithrichards

You aren’t allowed to put graves in garden are you ...as far as I know anyway. I’m positive someone can advise

Yes you can.

www.gardenlaw.co.uk/gardenburial.html

"DIY Burial"
All the material on this page is taken from the excellent book "Green Burial" by JB Bradfield and published by the Natural Death Centre. Available from either the Natural Death Centre or the PHFT for £9:85.
As soon as you mention burial outside of a cemetery, a great wave of learned opinion will strike you, coming from Aunty Flo, Government departments and everyone in between. It is opinion that has the majority of the country earnestly believing that burial outside of consecrated ground is illegal, and opinion that makes one council actively help its residents if they want burial outside of a cemetery whilst another attempts to obstruct it.
Planning law surrounding burial is vague and it is individuals' interpretation of these laws that causes confusion. However, the practicalities of arranging a burial are very simple.
I confirm to you that planning permission is not required for the burial of one or two persons....While planning permission is not required, [it is] strongly advised to consult [the] local authority to ensure [the grave] would not...be polluting the water table. You would also be advised to append a plan of where the body is to the deeds of your property.
(Letter to Natural Death Centre from Department of Environment 12.5.94)
Note the word advised.
You do not need planning permission. Neither do you need to contact the Environmental Health Department. All that you need is permission from the land owner (yourself if you own your garden). The Council will have to get permission from the Home Office to exhume you, if they feel strongly about your choice of burial site. (Which they are unlikely to get). Consulting the local authority about the water table is not good idea, since this will set alarm bells off all over the Town Hall and you will be interfered with. Infact, the pollution of the water table is very unlikely from one or two bodies.
Dead bodies will not cause problems once they are buried since the earth acts as a deodorizer and cleaning agent. However, if you are particularly concerned about this, contact the Rivers Authority for advice. They suggest, for instance,that burial should not take place within 10 meters of any standing or running water.
Infectious disease shouldn't cause you a problem either, unless you die of anthrax, heamoragic fever, cholera, plague (which one is not made clear), relapsing fever, smallpox or typhus. Even if you were to die of one of these bizarre illnesses, your family could take you home from hospital as long as they were going to bury or cremate you immediately.
Please note that AIDS is not a notifiable disease and creates no problem in burial.
The regulations about depth of graves is either specific or nonexistent. In some old towns the following may apply,
No coffin shall be buried in any grave without less than 30 inches of soil between the surface of [the ground] and the upper side of the coffin.
(Section 103 Burial Act 1847 chapter 34)

[IsItATomb]

I own the house, nothing mentioned at all during the buying process

[bridgetreilly]

I'd say grave. And possibly of more than one person. Like a family vault kind of thing. Fun!

[MissB83]

A family member has a couple of family plaques in her garden from the crematorium as they had been some vandals. Possibly the former residents just wanted the plaque in the garden? Do you know anything about them?