Memorial ideas in Cheltenham

When a loved one dies and chooses to have their ashes scattered, their family and friends may want to designate a space in their memory to visit instead of a grave. 

A memorial, such as a dedicated tree or bench, can be a meaningful way to remember your loved one. It can give you a spot to visit and think about your loved one in an area that was significant to them, such as the town where they grew up or their favourite spot in the park. 

In Cheltenham, there are a number of ways you can set up a memorial for your loved one, including their own bronze memorial plaques, and an entry in the Book of Remembrance. 

Find your funeral director in Cheltenham who will help you arrange a cremation or burial, and give you ideas for a meaningful memorial.

Memorialisation is a way to commemorate your loved one. Cheltenham Borough Council offers a few ways in which you can pay respects, such as bronze kerb plaques. 

Bronze memorial plaques can be fixed to kerbs in the gardens of remembrance and you can lease these for ten years. You can renew the lease at the end of the ten years. You can renew the lease multiple times, ensuring that the memorial can remain in place for as long as you’d like.

Books of Remembrance provide a permanent memorial in the cloister adjacent to the burial chapel. These books are inscribed by a calligrapher and contain a page for each day of the year, with the pages being turned daily. The entry is written in a medieval-style using ancient techniques, and you can also add significant emblems like regimental badges and flowers to your loved one’s entry.

You and your family can decide a date you’d like added, and people usually choose either the date of their loved one’s passing, their birthday, or an anniversary to be added to their loved one’s entry. You can view the book at any time by arranging a time and date with the cemetery office. Staff provide vases for cut flowers, which they display in the cloister.

Alternatively, You can arrange copies of entries in the Book of Remembrance. These handwritten entries are by the same craftsmen who inscribed the original book, and you can order copies from any cemetery office. These miniature copies are ideal for giving to relatives and friends who live further afield.

The Garden of Remembrance is dedicated to the memory of those whose ashes have been scattered there. To make sure that the landscape and beauty of the gardens is preserved for the visitors of the garden and for the future, the council manages the layout. It provides all the roses, shrubs, and trees, rather than accepting gifts in the form of trees and plants, to avoid potential over-planting and deterioration. 

Still, the council understands the desire for family and friends to donate gifts to the garden, so as well as an entry in the Book of Remembrance the council has also established an endowment scheme. The council invest contributions to fund the garden and to keep the garden to a high standard, as well as complete renovations if necessary. Your gift will be acknowledged and an entry made in the gift book on a dated page. This will be displayed in the cloisters to the burial chapel with the appropriate anniversary page open that you can view throughout the year, including Christmas and bank holidays.