New Crematorium
Crematoria are not something that too many people get excited about. They interest me because I find all sorts of things fascinating and, I take funerals but I know that not everyone feels the same way. However, yesterday I met someone with more enthusiasm for Crematoria than anyone I’ve previously encountered!
Stephen Byfield of Horizon Cremation; https://horizoncremation.co.uk/ offered to show me round the new Cannock Crematorium that the company are building. I took up his offer gladly.
It is good to see the site of the old Bleakhouse coal mine being put to use again. As those who are familiar with the area will know, Cannock is a part of the world that has seen a lot of changes caused by coal mining over several centuries. There were numerous deep mines and then in recent decades coal was recovered by ‘outcropping’, or open cast, with work at Bleakhouse beginning in 1994. When the open cast work ended at Bleakhouse, the site was used for coal processing, brought from other sites.
The crematorium shares the site with the new Cannock Chase Cemetery and there will be opportunities for sharing of resources, including grounds maintenance.
The shell of the building is taking shape and the interior is being laid out with most of the rooms in place. When it is complete, the exterior will be clad with wood so that it will blend in more easily with the surroundings. Trees that have self-seeded in the last twenty years are becoming well established but there will be more planted for landscaping and shelter.
Stephen told me that the roof profile gives a nod to the industrial buildings of the West Midlands, although there are not many of the original sawtooth roofs still surviving from the heyday of manufacturing in the Black Country and Birmingham.
The centre section with the large window is the heart of the crematorium and will hold the chapel.
The chapel will have seating for 140, assuming that the restrictions caused by Covid-19 will be passed by the time it is opened.
Outside, there will be gardens and walkways with urn-holders set in the flower beds.
Interestingly, Stephen told me that one of the reasons that he and his business partners became involved in building and operating crematoria was the same as one of my main motivations— funerals we had attended which left us unsatisfied and with a strong conviction that we could do better. Stephen felt that the crematorium was impersonal and unsympathetic and I felt that the celebrant had not made enough effort to find out about the deceased and write a worthwhile script, along with uninspiring delivery.
It was great to see all the different parts and be told all the ways that it would be a much better experience for the families attending and for the celebrants, in terms of facilities, however the one thing that excited me most of all is the standard length of their ceremonies. Like so many celebrants who have been asked to fit a ceremony into a 30 minute slot including entry and exit, I have been really frustrated and felt pressurised to rush. That doesn’t create the best conditions for a good funeral ceremony and a lot of things have to be cut out, to say nothing of rushing through the script.
Horizon Cremation have a standard time allowance of 60 minutes. That is brilliant; I don’t often want the full 60 minutes but not having the pressure to rush makes a huge difference. I hope it will encourage more crematoria to follow suit.
I have to say that I am looking forward to being able to take funerals at the crematorium when it is open.
Useful links:
My celebrant website: https://humanist.org.uk/marktaylor/
Horizon Cremation — Cannock Crematorium: https://horizoncremation.co.uk/our-sites/cannock-crematorium/
