Funerals & Memorial services
St Mary’s is one of 4 churches in the Parish of Wimbledon, funerals and memorial services can be arranged at any of the 4 churches via the Parish Office parish.office@stmaryswimbledon.org.
We do recommend that you speak to us prior to making any arrangements with funeral directors so that we can support you.
Please note: to have a funeral within one of our churches, the deceased will need to have been resident with our Parish, to confirm this please visit https://www.achurchnearyou.com
The Garden of Remembrance at St Mary’s
Following a funeral at St Mary’s, families have the opportunity to lay ashes in the Garden of Remembrance at a short ceremony with a member of the Clergy. Families may choose also to have a plaque made to be placed on the wall in the garden. Please note there are eligibility criteria which is usually the funeral taking place at St Mary’s. We do not allow planting however, Cannizaro Park offers this https://cannizaropark.com/support-the-friends/#general-donations
Book of remembrance- updated annually
The BOOK OF REMEMBRANCE is kept in a display case in St Mary’s Parish Church. The book, with a page dated for each day of the year, enables the name of a deceased person, date and a few words to be entered as a memorial. Entries are usually made on the page dated for the anniversary of death (year’s mind). We pray each day for those commemorated in the book - if the anniversary falls on a weekday at morning prayer, or a Sunday at Evensong.
Submissions now closed until October 2025
A charge is made for each entry to cover the cost of the inscription. The current charge (2024) is £38.00 for a standard entry (full name, year of birth and year of death). Up to two additional lines of text can be included @ £20 per line. Each additional line can have up to 37 characters, including spaces.
An invoice will be emailed to you following receipt of your form and acceptance by the clergy, this shoud be paid by BACS to the account details on the invoice.
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Speak to friends and family prior to booking the service and have 2/3 date options to work with. There are a number of elements to coordinate and a little flexibility is needed. The key 3 elements that usually need to be coordinated are:
clergy/ church availability
funeral director availability
crematorium availability
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The clergy/ minister will help you to plan the service and guide you through what is possible. We do recommend that you have a chat with family & friends about what you might like prior to meeting the clergy/ minister.
Depending on the church that you choose, a number of extra elements may be available to consider such as choir, professional singers, parking, streaming/ recording and flowers; these each have costs associated with them.
A note on flowers at St Mary’s- the funeral directors will arrange any flowers with the cortege and the church flowers are arranged directly with the church flower team. The flowers requested may not be removed from the church following the service. Christian festival of Christmas, Easter and Harvest (early October) are observed and the church will already have extensive floral decorations in place which cannot be altered.
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This is dependent on the church that you select but the clergy and music team can assist you with selections.
Please note that should you wish to record the service, profesional musicians ie: organist and professional singers will require their fee to be doubled. This does not include the church choir, their fees are remain the same.
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The Parish Office will usually invoice your choice of funeral directors and then you will pay the funeral directors for all items.
Statutory & Parish Fees
The core fees for funerals are set by the Diocese as a Life Event and these are called statutory fees. The statutory fees are split into 2 categories, the portion that is paid by the Parish to the Diocese and the portion that goes to the Parish. Please note that the church itself does not directly receive any of the statutory fees.
PCC Fees – Parish Fees
The Parish of Wimbledon sets fees annually for the additional items available in the church for funerals; these are not set by the church. Usually clergy travel expenses, heating, the organist and verger are items that are not optional at St Mary’s.
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Select 2/3 potential dates/ times for the funeral
Contact Parish Office
Contact Funeral Directors
Agree the date and time for the funeral
Contact a venue for post service refreshments if needed
Notify family & friends of date & time of service
Meeting with clergy to discuss service
Select music & any extra musicians
Orders of service, flowers
Parking & Transport
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St Mary’s offers the opportunity for a short Burial of Ashes service and a plaque on the wall of remembrance when the church has held the funeral- see policy button below. This may or may not be on the same day as the funeral depending on the choices made by the family. Details of costs & how to order a plaque can be found here.
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St Mary’s has the Garden Hall which can be hired, the office can also recommend caterers if required. You can check for availability here:
Other venues in the area:
Dog & Fox, Wimbledon Village
The Rushmere, Ridgway, Wimbledon Village
Hotel du Vin, Wimbledon Common
Rose & Crown, Wimbledon Village
