David Bellamy opens woodland burial lodge extension

Environmental campaigner and broadcaster, David Bellamy, will officially open a new £120,000 extension to the lodge at the woodland burial site on Barton Glebe, near Cambridge. The Grand Opening is to be at 12 noon during the Arbory Trust Open Day on Wednesday June 16th which runs from 10 am until 4 pm.

The site is run and managed by The Arbory Trust. Dr Bellamy, who is one of the Trustees, will explain their work. The occasion is open to the general public. Over 700 guests have been invited, and many are expected to attend the opening ceremony.

The new extension involves the construction of a new meeting room, designed to accommodate around 75 people for a funeral service, which will enable families to hold a service and proceed to burial on site.

“The original building was not designed to hold services, but merely to provide shelter on inclement days,” said the Trust Administrator, Deryn Coe.

“However, the demand for a facility to hold services on site has increased as burials here have become more popular. With the expansion of the site to 40 acres, the time is right to provide an appropriate building to meet this need.”

Office and additional toilet facilities will also be added.

The Bishop of Huntingdon, Dr David Thomson, has welcomed the new extension. "The Arbory Trust's woodland burial site has proved very popular," he said.  "Its natural surroundings and environmental ethic provide an excellent setting for burials and remembering those whom we love but see no longer."

Barton Glebe provides a natural, environmentally friendly and cost effective alternative to traditional cemeteries and graveyards. Burials take place in the glades surrounded by trees and the graves ultimately become part of that glade or meadow. There are no headstones or statues, and nothing is left to fall into disrepair as time goes on.

The Trust aims to provide a natural woodland setting for burial, blending careful management of the grounds with the restoration of indigenous flora and fauna wherever possible.  The site was originally an open field but a wide variety of wildlife is now returning to the site.

Over 20,000 trees, indigenous to the area, have now been planted on the site. The species were selected and planted with advice from the Forestry Commission, They include oak, wild service, silver birch, holly, willow, barberry, whitebeam, yew and alder.

The Arbory Trust, a Church of England registered charity, was established in 2000. Since then, over 500 burials (cremated remains and full burials) have taken place, and people of all races and religions are welcome.