Funerals and Bereavement
If a loved one has died do contact us by email: rector@parishofshere.com and we will be in touch. We are here to support and walk with you through this difficult journey which does not end with the Funeral Service.
Spiritual care of people who are sick, dying or bereaved following the loss of a loved one is an important part of our ministry in Shere and Peaslake. Our Ministry team is always willing to meet with people at difficult times, to talk and pray with them. Wherever possible, we would wish to be involved with the funerals of Christian people with a connection to our parish irrespective of whether they attend church regularly.
If you would like someone to visit or pray with you please speak to one of the Ministry Team or contact the Parish Office. If you want to organise a funeral or burial of ashes, it is generally easiest to make contact through a funeral director, who will co-ordinate diaries and make the necessary practical arrangements.
New Graves
The rules regarding headstones and memorials on new graves are quite strict and nothing may be introduced or added in any way without the written permission of the Rector.
The form required to apply for a new stone or monument can be downloaded here;
Our local regulations can be found here and if you wish to read the full Diocesan regulations they can be found here.
Graves and Burial Records
If you are trying to trace burials or graves, we will gladly assist, where we have the information. Finding the right information usually takes some time so we cannot give you an answer straight away!
A note of caution: we may have a record of a burial but no record of where the grave is; we may only use what records we have. It may be that records were made but have not survived or that some of the information we now record as a matter of course these days was not written down in the past.
Burial Registers do not remain in churches for ever. In this Diocese the deposit of non-current parish records for safekeeping has been encouraged for many years. Once a Register is full, and they no longer need to be referred to frequently, we deposit ours with:
Surrey History Centre,
130 Goldsworth Road, Woking, GU21 1ND
Tel: 01483 518737.
Website www.surreycc.gov.uk/surreyhistoryservice
Graveyards – We have three
Peaslake – a brisk uphill walk on the narrow road that leads up the side of the church to the top of the Hurtwood.
Shere – surrounding the church. Inscriptions legible in the late 1970s are recorded and also about ¼ mile from the church in which the first burial took place on 9 October 1945.
Inscriptions legible in the September 2007 are recorded.
Enquiries
Peaslake: 01306 730961
Shere: 01483 203352