Buying a grave
We offer a range of different graves and memorials in our cemeteries, to meet the needs of you and your family.
When buying a grave you will not purchase any land and no ownership of land is transferred to you. You are buying will be the exclusive rights of burial for a grave.
You can buy a grave plot in a Leicester cemetery for a period of 50 years, renewable at the end of the lease.
New graves are available to pre-purchase in our cemeteries. Please make an appointment with our Bereavement Services office, who will help you to select a suitable plot. You can download details of fees and charges at the bottom of this page.
The owner must give written consent for the grave to be opened for burials or apply for a memorial permit.
Choices of grave
Traditional grave
These graves are offered for those who want greater choice over the design of the memorial, or do not want people to walk over the grave. The entire grave can be surrounded by kerbs, edging or mounded full length, with a memorial stone placed at the head of the grave. The grave area within the grave surrounds can be either planted out with suitable plants or covered. Trees and large shrubs are not permitted. Maintenance of the memorial and grave space is the responsibility of the grave owner
Lawn grave
These graves are offered for those who want to place a memorial headstone only on a grave space. The planting of memorial flowers is permitted in a border at the head of the grave but must not exceed 30cm in depth (adult) or 15cm in depth (child) from the memorial. No kerbs, fences or surrounds are permitted on the grave and will be removed without further notice. No trees or shrubs may be planted on the grave. Maintenance of the memorial and planting is the responsibility of the grave owner and cemetery staff will maintain the lawn area.
Cremation grave
These plots are smaller than full size graves and are for the burial of cremated remains only.
Unpurchased grave
Unpurchased graves do not have any additional rights. No memorial is allowed and additional and unrelated persons may be buried in the grave.
Capacity of a grave
Purchased graves will be dug to a minimum depth for two burials. A grave may be dug for four adult burials, however, no guarantees can be made as ground conditions may vary. We will do our utmost to dig the graves at maximum depth if requested. The number of burials should be specified on the first burial as we can not deepen the grave subsequently.
In a dedicated cremation grave, five caskets can be interred. In a burial plot, it will depend on how many coffins have previously been buried in the grave.
When will I be able to put a memorial on the grave?
Some areas of our cemeteries have continuous concrete foundations which were laid so that memorials could be erected on lawn graves almost immediately. Where individual foundations are provided for lawn memorials ideally these will be situated on the un-dug ground at the head end of the grave. In these circumstances and with the use of ground anchors and fixings that comply with the National Association of Memorial Masons (NAMM) recommended code of practice, it's still possible to erect a memorial almost immediately.
We recommend waiting for a period to give the ground time to settle. During this period the cemetery staff will monitor the plot for any sinkage and top it up periodically with topsoil.
Fees and charges
Fees and charges price list from 23 July 2019 (PDF) - our current fees and charges for burials, graves, cremations and memorials
Contact us
Write to us: Bereavement Services, Leicester City Council, Gilroes Crematorium, Groby Road, LE3 9QG
Ring us on: 0116 373 7327
Send us a message