An increasing number of people are buying burial plots in the South West so that they know where they will rest after death and be assured that their demise will not damage the environment.

Bristol Memorial Woodlands in South Gloucestershire, which is creating a 100-acre woodland burial ground just north of Bristol, say family plots have become popular once again in a way not seen since Victorian times.

Chris Baker, founder of Bristol Memorial Woodlands said: “Greater environmental awareness seems to be driving a new desire for people to be buried, rather than be cremated. Burial is traditional and natural and returns a body into the ground without using fossil fuels and without emissions from a chimney.

“We are now finding people buying burial plots for family members as gifts and whole families wanting to be buried together and know that future generations will be able to gather there beneath the trees and remember them.”

Traditional burials went into decline in the UK as a result of village churchyards becoming full and in the 20th century cremations became the norm for many communities. Changes in the way people mourn and look at death have seen a shift in attitudes.

Said Chris Baker: “Most people think we are running out of room for burials in the UK but that is just not true. There is a real desire to create new woodland habitats to replace those that have disappeared over the years and doing that through burial grounds, as we are doing, is a way to finance their creation.

“It also means that there are people with an interest in maintaining those woodlands and their families rest there and that future generations will have a stunning, natural place to go to remember their ancestors.

“The local council crematorium is often very functional and busy and not a place to sit and remember loved ones. We also find that many people like the idea of knowing where they will be buried – whether that is their body or an internment of ashes.

“Some of the enquiries we are getting are from people who are just being practical and knowing that we all have to face death some time. Others are from people with a faith that requires them to be buried and they want to buy plots for their whole family.”

Many faiths have always favoured burials and Bristol Memorial Woodlands has created a sacred Jewish burial site and a Muslim burial ground, designed under the guidance of religious community leaders.

Information on Bristol Memorial Woodlands can be found at www.memorialwoodlands.com