Funerals

At the close of a person’s life on earth, the funeral service is the opportunity for friends and family to express their grief, to give thanks for the life and to commend the person into God's hands. The funeral service in church can be short and quiet with only a few members of the family present or a larger gathering. We can also offer a Service of Thanksgiving or Memorial Service following a quiet funeral for close family and friends. A funeral service in church is normally arranged via the Funeral Directors. However if you have any questions on this, or anything below, please use the form to get in touch with us.

Whether you choose to have the service for your loved one in one of our churches or in the crematorium, our Vicar will be happy to support you along the journey and please get in touch with them if you need any support at what can often be a very difficult time.

We have the facilities to include recorded music and video tributes within our churches and we have organists available to be booked should you want to include any hymns or organ music as part of the service. The minister taking the service will talk all of this through with you.

Churchyards

If you wish to bury or inter a loved one into one of our churchyards then we will do our best to accommodate you. There is information below about each of our churchyards but there are some regulations which we follow, particularly around the design of memorials. Whoever you choose to make your memorial should be aware of these but the Churchyard Policy explains the regulations and can be downloaded here.

St Mary the Virgin, Hurley
Our churchyard still has some spaces for burial of ashes available in the Briggs Memorial Garden and we will be happy to guide you through the process for this. Although not yet closed the churchyard is now full and no further full burials are possible. Some second interments and burial of ashes in existing graves will be possible.

St John the Evangelist, Littlewick Green
We are fortunate to have a new churchyard extension to the east of the church building, near the new cabin. This still has space for burial plots and there is also an area for ashes interments and we will be happy to guide you through the process for either of these. Although not yet closed the main churchyard is now full and no further full burials are possible. Some second interments and burial of ashes in existing graves will be possible.

St James the Less Stubbings
The churchyard is open. New areas are in use for the burial of ashes and for full burials, plots will be used sequentially. Some further burials may occur in the older parts of the churchyard; this will be at the discretion of the Vicar.

Burial Records

St. Mary the Virgin, Hurley
In 2000, as a Millenium project, a group of volunteers completely surveyed the Hurley Churchyard, recording all of the headstones and footstones. All the legible inscriptions were recorded, together with photographs taken. These were then collated with the entries in the Burial Books of Hurley and all this information was collated together with maps etc into a 300 page book entitled "The Monuments of St Mary the Virgin, Hurley. A copy of this book is available for reference inside Hurley Church. Burial records prior to 2000 are kept in the Berkshire Record Office in Coley Ave, Reading. together with Baptism and Marriage Records. There are photocopies of most of these held by David Burfitt on 01628 823503.

St. James the Less, Stubbings
Records of burials within the churchyard of St James the Less can be very helpful in the tracing of family histories. Some years ago Parish Churches were required to deposit old record books in the County Archives Office in Reading and you can access the older records, up to 1933, of Stubbings Church there. Please note that the front churchyard at Stubbings has been officially "closed" for burials for many years and that some of the memorial stones have been removed so it may not be possible to identify exactly where a person was buried, there are some details available but they are not complete.

However, the church has in its possession, burial register books for burials since 1934 and a data base exists for burials since this date with names, dates and positions on plans of the rear churchyard. Records are continually updated and these are available for inspection. Please contact the Parish Office by email if you would like any information from the data base. We request a donation to church funds in return for the answer. Visitors are, of course, very welcome to come to the churchyard to help make their research more satisfying.

St. John the Evangelist, Littlewick Green
We hold all burial records in the church as well as a location plan of burials. These are available for inspection by appointment , through one of our Church Wardens.

Book of Commemoration and All Souls

If you would like your loved ones remembered in this book and prayed for on the Sunday preceding the anniversary of their death we are able to do so. We also keep a record of funerals held in our churches and would be more than happy to include your loved ones’ name in our annual All Souls Service (also known as the Commemoration of the Faithful Departed). Please contact the Parish Office if you would like to do this or ask about the Book of Remembrance.