Choosing a coffin, urn or headstone Sam Weller Selecting a coffin or urn and memorial can be daunting. Sam Weller outlines some of the alternatives.

In this article

Choosing a coffin Caskets

DIY funerals Ash containers

Memorials and headstones Some useful contacts

Choice of coffin is very often included as part of the complete service provided by the funeral director. If a top-of-the-range, mid-range or basic funeral plan is selected the style of coffin goes along with the deal.

Exactly what the coffin is like tends to be lost in euphemisms but it's unlikely to be expensive wax-polished timber with solid brass handles; it'll be more likely to be chipboard with a paper foil finish and plastic handles. Funeral directors tend to seek to recover some of their costs in the price charged for the coffin.

If a burial is planned - and in particular if the family is to participate in back filling the grave - then a more substantial solid wood coffin may be preferable.

Cremation coffins are purpose-designed and made from materials to minimise pollution.

Unlike the familiar tapering shape of a coffin, a casket is a rectangular container for the body. Usually it has a hinged lid, which is sometimes divided so only the upper part of a body may be revealed for a viewing. The term casket is also used to describe a container for ashes.

In Britain, caskets are usually made of wood or wood composite, while in the US they are metal. Such caskets imported from the US are available in Britain.

Funeral directors are unlikely to be very helpful if you ask them to conduct a funeral for which you supply your own coffin - though increasingly, they will sell you a coffin if you intend to undertake the task yourself. A few local authorities offer a direct coffin supply service.

Green alternatives

Coffins and caskets made from recycled wood, renewable forests, cardboard, bamboo or woven wicker have recently become available in response to demand from environmentally concerned people.

The most popular containers for ashes in the UK are miniature casket-style boxes made from wood composite and covered in grain-effect paper foil or veneer.

Also available are cylindrical and classical-style urns made from turned wood, terracotta, ceramics, aluminium, copper and also biodegradable alloys - and for sea burials, water-degradable salt, sand and clay composites. There are even ash containers that look like books or attractive ornaments.

Growing concern about safety in cemeteries as a result of injuries and deaths caused by falling headstones is making burial authorities tighten controls over the supply and fixing of memorials. Increasingly only selected, approved masons are being allowed to work in cemeteries - so make sure the supplier has accreditation to work in the cemetery of your choice.

There may also be restrictions as to the type of stone, its shape, size and inscription, so check the regulations with the cemetery management or vicar before commissioning the work - and even before acquiring the grave plot.

The Natural Death Centre

An organisation that aims to support those dying at home and their carers and to help people to arrange inexpensive, do-it-yourself and environmentally-friendly funerals.
Tel: 020 7359 8391
Website: www.naturaldeath.org.uk

Green Undertakings

A company that makes environmentally sound coffins and caskets.
Tel: 01283 540009
Website: www.greenundertakings.co.uk

The National Association of Memorial Masons (NAMM)

Dedicated to furthering the memorial masonry industry and safeguarding the interests of the bereaved through the promotion of high standards, wide choice and increased understanding in all matters relating to natural stone memorials.
Tel: 01788 542264
Website: www.namm.org.uk

Memorials by Artists

Company owned by the Memorial Arts Charity that helps people to commission individual memorials from a nationwide network of sculptors and letter carvers.
Tel: 01728 688934
Website: www.memorialsbyartists.co.uk