Help and advice on arranging a funeral at Aldershot Crematorium and information about cremation.
Refurbishment of the crematorium
We are about to carry out a major refurbishment of the Aldershot Crematorium and this will last until Spring 2025.
From 7 May, we will be holding all funeral services at the chapels in Redan Road Cemetery. Cremations will continue to take place at the crematorium. Our crematorium grounds will remain open for visitors, but the Hall of Remembrance will be closed. Our Books of Remembrance will remain available online.
Find out more by visiting our Refurbishment of Aldershot Crematorium page.
Arranging a cremation
Following a death, a number of arrangements need to be made and usually the executor or nearest relative carry these out.
Normally, the executor will contact a professional funeral director to help with the arrangements and carry out some of the various tasks on the family's behalf. The funeral director will also guide the relatives through the arrangements after the cremation.
Please be aware that the times that appear to be available in our online crematorium diary may not be suitable for your funeral director to be able to meet your requests, so we would advise you to make contact with the funeral director before you make any arrangements, such as church arrangements.
If you would like help and advice on arranging a funeral, please contact us using the contact details below.
Service arrangements that we offer
Families can make any service arrangements that they feel are appropriate. We support both religious and non-religious services, and if required, no ceremony needs to take place.
A full religious service may take place within the time allowed for each funeral. Alternatively, a service can take place in any separate place of worship followed by a committal ceremony.
Families can arrange for their particular minister to conduct the service or, if required, the funeral directors may be able to help you find a minister.
All Christian denominations, including the Roman Catholic Church, allow cremation. Cremation is also acceptable to Sikhs, Hindus, Parsees and Buddhists, but forbidden by Orthodox Jews and Muslims.
The cremation itself
All cremations are continuing to take place at the crematorium, even when the crematorium will be closed for refurbishment.
If the service is being held at the crematorium:
- After the service, the coffin will be withdrawn into the committal room where the crematorium staff will check the name plate and add an identity card, which will then accompany the coffin and the cremated remains throughout
If the service is being held at the Redan Road chapel:
- After the service, when everyone has left the chapel, our bereavement service staff will transfer the coffin from its place of rest into our own private ambulance for the short journey to the main crematorium site. The crematorium staff will check the name plate and add an identity card, which will then accompany the coffin and the cremated remains throughout
Family members can arrange to witness the reception of the coffin into the committal room and its introduction into the cremator, but we would ask them to arrange this as early as possible with the funeral director.
The cremation will normally take place on the same day as the funeral service. If that is not possible, it will take place within 24 hours of the service.
The coffin is cremated with the body and each cremation is individual.
The Code of Cremation Practice also insists that we carry out all cremations separately. In certain circumstances, we may make an exception, for example a mother and child, as long as the family has asked us specifically to do this.
It is not possible for floral tributes to be included with the coffin. We would also advise you to make sure any jewellery is removed, as we cannot recover any jewellery once we receive the coffin at the crematorium.
Once the cremation is complete, we collect the cremated remains. We remove any metals containing iron from the coffin or metal used in medical implants and dispose of them separately. We dispose of any other metals following the requirements of the Code of Cremation Practice, usually by burial in the crematorium grounds.
After cremation
Usually, the family will have to sign a form of authority to tell the crematorium their wishes but if they are undecided, it is possible to leave the cremated remains at the crematorium or at the funeral director's premises until they make a decision.
You may choose to let us take care of your loved one's cremated remains and we can advise you on the options available. For more details, see our page about your loved one's final resting place.
You can also take the cremated remains away to bury or scatter privately, but you may need to get permission from the appropriate authority, depending on where you want to do this.
From 7 May, funeral directors can collect cremated remains from the crematorium, while families can arrange an appointment to collect them from the Bereavement Services office at the Redan Chapel.
Remembering your loved one
We offer a number of different ways that you can remember your loved one. For more details, see our crematorium memorials page.
Public health funerals
We sometimes organise funerals for people who have passed away in Rushmoor and have no next of kin, or whose next of kin, relatives or friends are unable or unwilling to make the arrangements. Please see our public health funerals page for more information.
Contact us