Urns for Ashes & Scatter Tubes

In order to make this process as simple as possible, we offer delivery to a legally responsible person within five miles of any of our funeral homes, by appointment. Additionally, if you have asked us to collect ashes on your behalf, we will call to let you know when the ashes are back in our care. Alternatively, you can also elect to leave them at a crematorium at the time of the funeral arrangements for collecting, or burying/scattering in the crematorium gardens.

Please make an appointment to collect your loved one’s ashes either with ourselves if the crematorium is local to us, or from the crematorium if that is what you decided at the time of the funeral arrangement. Please bring identification with you, as well as written consent from the legally responsible person if that is not you.

In an emergency, ashes can be ready same day or next day if requested at the time of arrangement.  However, it is more likely that they will be with us within a few days (or weeks, if Manor Park or City of London) if we have agreed to collect.

Deciding what to do with a loved one’s ashes can be an important and emotional task. If there is no guidance left in the form of a loved one’s will or final wishes, it will be down to the next of kin to make the final decision, most likely with the input of other family members.

Ultimately, deciding what to do with a loved one’s ashes is an entirely personal choice, but here are some examples of common or popular traditions:

• Scattered with permission on favourite open ground (including sports stadium land), inland water or sea.
• Placed in a suitable container in a private home or garden.
• Arrange to have scattered in the crematorium grounds either attended or unattended by family, usually at little or no fee if the same place where the cremation took place.
• Arrange to have a plaque on a bench, rose bush or other monument in a crematorium garden or other public grounds.
• Arrange to place in a family grave or columbarium niche in a cemetery, churchyard or crematorium grounds, with a headstone inscription (each cemetery or crematorium grounds will have rules about what type of containers might be needed, if at all).
• Some can be used in jewellery or keepsake containers.
• Ashes can be split between family members.
• Ashes can even be placed inside specialist fireworks.

If you are not ready to decide what to do with your loved ones’ ashes, we can look after them for you at no charge for up to a year to give you time to decide.

After cremation, you will receive your loved one’s ashes in a temporary container, usually a cardboard or polythene container, in one of our own velvet bags. The remains can be buried, interred or scattered, but for many of us, keeping a loved one’s ashes at home can be comforting.

Alternatively, you may want to share the ashes – for this, small keepsakes and jewellery are the perfect option and mean you can always keep them close.

Please note that most ashes containers have the capacity for just one person’s ashes unless specified.  Please let us know if you are looking for either a keepsake container, or a container for two or more people’s ashes.

For the Home:

We have a selection of containers for cremated ashes, including decorative urns that have been designed with the thought of keeping at home. These ashes urns have a beautiful finish and are of a high quality. It is your choice whether these cremation caskets be displayed openly or kept in a private place. In time, the ashes can be buried, interred or scattered.

For interment & burial 

Even if you are opting for a cremation rather than a burial, you can still hold a burial ceremony for your loved one by burying their ashes in a cemetery or a natural burial ground. There are a number of designs for you to choose from made from environmentally-friendly materials, including plant fibre, paper, bamboo, seagrass, wood, clay and wool.

For scattering:

Scattering ashes has become extremely popular in recent years. Often the place and circumstances will be dictated by a loved one’s final wishes, and can be as traditional or as unusual as you see fit. Our scatter tubes are biodegradable and specifically designed to release the ashes smoothly, making it a simple and respectful process.

For the garden:

Keeping an urn in the garden can be a beautiful way of keeping your loved one’s cremated remains with you in the home, while also allowing them to be a part of the natural world. These urns can act almost as living memorials, and come in a variety of beautiful and intricate designs.

For water burial:

With appropriate permissions, you can submerge the ashes in a lake, river or the sea as part of a water burial. These urns are made from suitable environmentally friendly materials, including paper. They represent the perfect send off for any loved one, but particularly one whose heart always belonged to a life on the ocean wave.

Urns & Keepsakes for sharing:

Sometimes you want to keep a loved one even closer to you than on the mantelpiece or in the garden. In this case, containers for cremated remains can act as keepsakes in the form of jewellery or other small objects. Family members can share the ashes between themselves rather than keep them in one place.

Whether you are purchasing an urn or scatter tubes, there are plenty of designs and materials for you to choose from. While ceramic is usually the most common material used for cremation urns, other materials include:

• Wood
• Stone
• Glass

Scatter tubes and urns for ashes can also be made from biodegradable materials to make for an eco-friendly experience.

As with a coffin or casket, it may be important to some people to include a personal item or sentimental object in the cremation urn. The size of the urn and the amount of ashes will ultimately decide how many items you may be able to place inside, but some common mementos include:

• Personal messages
• Locks of hair
• Wedding rings
• Other jewellery
• Photographs