Clergy Training – Churches, churchyards and church grounds

This clergy workshop took place in May 2026. It provided an introduction to: 

• Why it’s important to maintain and repair our church buildings and churchyards/grounds, and who is responsible  

• How the Church of England framework of professional advisers and quinquennial inspections helps – and how to make the most of the system 

• Maintenance by volunteers and by professionals, and when you cross the line from maintenance to repair 

• DAC advice, both formal and informal 

The Churchyard Regulations set out what is permitted in all the parish churchyards of the Church of England in the Diocese of St Albans. They also provide guidance, advising on good practice and management on churchyards, and providing advice and assistance. There is also a summary guide called the Churchyard Handbook – Guide for Families, please refer to these documents together.

Please click here to download the Churchyard Regulations 2025.

Please click here to download the Churchyard Handbook Guide for Families 2025.

Please click here to download the Additional Matters Order 3. 2025 Churchyard Regulations

St Albans Churchyard Regulations 2025.

Form CR1 – Application Form for Introducing a Memorial (Word version)

This form is to reserve a grave space in a churchyard.

This form is for ashes plot reservation in a Garden of Remembrance.

Advice leaflet and Additional Matters Order, about Filming in Churches and Churchyards.

Filming in and around your church – leaflet

Filming in Churches and Churchyards Additional Matters Order (AMO)

Also note the related documents:

Filming Agreement Template (pdf)

Filming Agreement Template (word) this can be edited.

This document contains the presentation from the Registry, used in the Church Management Training in June 2025.

The session included a practical demonstration by Richard Lee a local memorial mason on how to install a memorial safely.

This form can be used for an application for the interment of ashes in a closed churchyard, along with a memorial application.

Petition for a faculty for the introduction of a memorial into a churchyard.

This page contains an advisory leaflet that gives information on the Equality Act and the responsibility of the PCCs to be able to demonstrate that they have made every reasonable effort to comply with the law. It also contains an article written by Revd Martin King on ensuring that your church is including the hearing disabled.

Ensuring that your church is including the hearing disabled leaflet

Access for people with disabilities leaflet

Here you will find a directory of environment resources on a wide range of topics from Land and Nature to Net Zero Carbon.

Environment Resources February 2023-3

Environment Resources June 2023

Environment Resources July 2024

Environment Resources October 2025

This page will help with guidance on good practice and management of your Churchyard and contains a helpful Guide for Families, as well as a poster that can be downloaded and displayed in your churchyard.

Resources

Resources from churchyard management training events.

The Churchyard Regulations

St Albans Churchyard Regulations 2025 and the Churchyards Handbook.

The Guide for Families

This Handbook is a guide to the rules relating to burial, interment of cremated remains, and other matters relating to churchyards. Please click here to download the Churchyard Handbook Guide for Families 2025.

Churchyard Notice

This editable poster template has been prepared to help you publicise what regulations for the use of churchyards are in effect, and to explain the reasons behind them. We recommend its use alongside the existing full set of regulations and the accompanying Churchyard Handbook Guide for Families.

The template is a Word document so you can customise it with the relevant contact information and logo for your church, but we ask that you do not alter the other text, which conforms to the Chancellor’s Regulations and has been approved by the DAC.

The PCC is welcome to develop their own local churchyard management plan, and to either use this poster or print the Churchyard Regulations and/or Guide for Families. You may also like to mention regular working parties and/or memorial services to which families and other users of the churchyard are invited.

If you have any questions about the Regulations or need help editing the template, please contact the DAC team.

Please click here to download the Churchyard Notice

This page has all of the relevant churchyard forms. Please read in conjunction with the Churchyard Regulations.

The forms needed for churchyard applications are updated by the Diocesan Registry to show the current statutory faculty application fee.

Form CR1 – Application Form for Introducing a Memorial  2025 (pdf)

Form CR1 – Application Form for Introducing a Memorial 2025 (word)

Form CR2 – Application Form for Amending/Repairing a Memorial 2025 (pdf)

Form CR2 – Application Form for Amending/Repairing a Memorial 2025 (word)

Grave space reservation form 2026

Ashes plot reservation form 2026

Introduction of a memorial by faculty form 2026

Interment of ashes in closed churchyard 2026

Churchyard Regulations and Handbook: Guide for Families

1. Information and updates

• Energy Footprint Tool
• Welcome: Sally Ackroyd
• DAC annual report
• VAT and Climate Change Levy overpayments
• A new home sought for Crucifix and Stations of the Cross
• Candle sticks available
• The Church of England: now on WhatsApp
• Hertfordshire Fire Service set up a Christian network

2. Training and Resources

• Top Tips for a successful application to the National Heritage Lottery Fund
• Faculties, List B and how to apply for them
• Clergy training in person – Caring for your church and churchyard, or church garden
• Accessibility – supporting those in ministry and leadership in our churches
• Save The Date – webinar “Decarbonising Churches – Voices of Experience”

3. Environment

• Community Payback – help with maintaining your churchyard
• Living Churchyards
• NEWS: Clifton Churchyard is a County Wildlife Site and is listed as a Flowery Burial Ground
• News from the Diocesan Environment Officer
• External Oil Tanks

4. Maintaining your building

• Recommended monthly tasks

5. Grants and Funding

• National Church Net Zero Carbon Grants

6. Upcoming Events

• Year of the Birds events at Clothall

1. Information and updates

• URGENT UPDATE: Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme and future government funding
• New Additional Matters Orders
• Making applications for DAC advice – Faculties and Minor Matters
• Defibrillators
• Hertfordshire Archive and Local Studies (HALS) – new opening times
• Martyn’s Law Briefing Note
• Telecom infrastructure on church buildings
• Churches looking for servers’ albs

2. Training resources

• Accessibility Icons for websites
• Be Prepared & Stay Calm!
• Applying for a National Heritage Lottery Fund grant

3. Environment

• Please act now! Energy Footprint Tool – Footprints for Creation
• Carbon Literacy for Congregations
• Church heating – Your questions answered
• Swift boxes in churches

4. Maintaining your building

• Recommended monthly tasks

5. Grants and Funding

• Receive funding – for free!
• Small Grants for Village Halls – apply now if you fit the criteria!
• Potential Grants for NZC, Biodiversity and Community Projects

6. Good news stories

• St Mary’s Watford switches to green gas – The Diocese of St Albans

7. Upcoming Events

• Beds & Herts Historic Churches Trust – A Life in Ruins

1. Information

• New Additional Matters Orders

1. Electric Heating Systems AMO
2. Third-party hiring of churches and halls within faculty jurisdiction AMO and Guidance on Hiring
3. Scaffolding in churchyards AMO
4. St Albans Churchyard Regulations

• Volunteers – stories/photos wanted
• Survey: internet connectivity in churches
• New Faculty Application Fee

2. Training resources

• Carbon Literacy Training – One Day Workshop
• Be Prepared!
• Churchwardens training – Church Buildings and Churchyards

3. Environment

• Broken Heating?
• New Historic England advice on flooding and historic buildings

4. Maintaining your building

• Recommended monthly tasks
• Damp in churches
• Ecclesiastical Insurance Forensic Marking

5. Grants and Funding

• Quick Wins
• Accessibility Grants
• House of good – local

6. Good news stories

• Meppershall celebrates
• Congratulations to St John, Royston

7. Upcoming Events

• • Christmas Tree Festivals

• In this Issue: The theme of this Bulletin is Maintenance and Training.1. Information
  • Richard’s Income Generation Tip of the Month
  • Volunteer Opportunities with BHHCT
  • Explore churches using an App
  • Disability Awareness Sunday
  • Timing of faculty applications
  2. Training and Resources
  • Churchyard Management Training – 23rd October
  • Churchwardens Training – Church Buildings and Churchyards Management (online)
  • National Maintenance Week – November 2025
  • Carbon Literacy Course – 15th December
  • Learning Lunchtimes from the Flourishing Churches Team
  • Choosing a new heating system
  3. Environment
  • Deanery Eco Champions – more still needed!
  • The Living Churchyards Project – can you help?
  • Eco Church Events
  • The GREAT SWITCH for creation
  • Parish Buying Energy Basket
  4. Maintaining your building
  • Recommended monthly tasks
  5. Grants and Funding
  • Minor Repairs & Improvements Grant to re-open for new applications
  • Net Zero Carbon Quick Wins Grants
  6. Good news stories
  • All Saints, Willian
  • The Scaffolding Is Finally Down
  • Ready, steady, go! Thundridge Old Church Tower
  • Cycling for access at Woburn Church
  7. Upcoming Events
  • Fundraising concert – Beds & Herts Historic Churches Trust
  • Churches Visitor and Tourism Association

• Visitation services
• Filming in Churches and Churchyards
• Heritage skills for the future
• For sale

• Training: Churchyard Management

• Season of Creation
• Can you help?
• Energy Footprint Tool
• Net Zero Carbon Quick Wins Grants
• Heating Systems Guidance

• Recommended monthly tasks

• Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme – Update
• Minor Repairs & Improvements Grant – Update
• The Benefact Trust – Important Update
• National Heritage Lottery Fund
• Fundraising idea for your pets?

• Keysoe – flower festival
• Newnham’s annual garden party fundraiser

• Bike and Hike
• Heritage Open Days

• • Volunteer Week

• • DAC Chair

• • Introduction of Seamus McGibbon, Pastoral and Closed Churches Officer

• • Churchyard Regulations

• • The National Churches Survey

• • Martyn’s Law

• • Beware of scammers

• • Free training from the DAC Team: Opening and Using Your Church

• • Churchyard Management workshop – Save the Date

• • Hearing Disability – New DAC Advisory Leaflet 9a

• • Please act now! Upload Energy Footprint Tool data for 2024

• • Eco Champions wanted!

• • Love your Burial Ground Week / Churches Count on Nature

• • Recommended monthly tasks

• • Money Matters Spring 2025

• • Minor Repairs and Improvements Fund

• • Christ Church, Radlett installs solar panels at Vision Hall

• • Carbon Literacy Project at Royston

• • Thanks from Waterford

• • More good news from Waterford: Restoration of the reredos

• BHHCT – Bike & Hike

• Free training from the National Churches Trust
• Spring clean your website!
• Are you open to visitors?
• Emergency Planning
• Workshops with St Albans DAC

• Deanery Eco Champions
• Net Zero Carbon

• Churchyard Regulation survey responses
• Items Available

• Recommended monthly tasks

• Apply for a Conservation Grant
• Living alongside bats in churches grant

• Stevenage, St Andrew and St George: Meeting needs with tea and toast
• Great St Mary’s in Sawbridgeworth: Conservation of monument to Viscount George Hewyt d.1689,

• Flamstead hawk!

• Volunteer Week
• Heritage open days

• Churchwardens’ Training – The Diocesan Website
• Developing a fundraising strategy for your project
• Opening your church to visitors

• Energy Audits
• Broken Heating?
• Churchyard management poster
• Repair it, don’t throw it

• Protecting Built Heritage
• Sale of treasures
• Site visits
• Parish Returns – just for information

• Recommended monthly tasks
• Ecclesiastical Insurance’s monthly risk calendar

• Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme (VAT)
• Net Zero Carbon Quick Wins Grant
• Minor Repairs & Improvements Grant

• North Mymms double news
• Great news from St Paul’s Bedford

• • AccessAble – Letting disabled visitors know about access in and around your church building

• • Churchwarden training resource page: Taking care of your building contents

• • Supporting hedgehogs and other small animals

• • Heating your church this winter

• • Emergency works – process we follow

• • Applying for List B permission (Archdeacon’s Letter)

• • UK Digital upgrade

• • Church War Memorials

• • Maintenance week

• • Recommended monthly tasks

• • Funding newsletter – is this a link to the last newsletter?

• • Living Alongside Bats in Churches

• • Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme

• • National Lottery Awards For All England

• • Benefact Trust – Movement For Good

• Planning for an emergency
• Events and Resources 
• Information
  • How to make your church inclusive
  • What’s special about your church building – Statements of Significance
•  Environment 
  • Do you have pew heaters that aren’t as effective as you think they should be?
  • Churches Eligible for Reduced VAT on Energy
• Maintaining your building
• Grants and Funding 
  • Minor Repairs & improvements Grants and Net Zero Quick Wins
  • Listed Places of Worship (LPW) Scheme

• Events and Resources
• Environment
  • Energy Footprint tool
  • Managing your Churchyard for Wildlife
• Information
  • Quinquennial Inspection Reminder: Why is it so important to my church?
  • New list of free resources
  • External paints on timber, plaster and metal
• Maintaining your building
• Grants and Funding
• Good news stories

• Events and Resources
  • Teatime Tuesdays (5-6pm)
  • Church Maintenance workshop
  • Fundraising training
• Featured DAC advice leaflet
• Free Canva Pro Account
• Environment
  • Energy Footprint tool
• Churchyards
• Maintaining your building
• Grants and Funding

• Events
  • Teatime Tuesdays (5-6pm)
  • Church Maintenance workshop
  • Fundraising training
• Environment
  • Energy Footprint tool
• Grants and Funding
  • Update – National Lottery Heritage Grants
  • ChurchCare Conservation Grants
  • Village Halls Small Grants Fund
  • Minor Repairs & Improvements (MR&I) Grants
• Blog post – Opening your church
• Baroness Brinton on disability and inclusion in the Church and Society
• DAC advice leaflets
• Volunteers week

• Environment
  • Church of England position on Hydrogen
  • Energy Footprint tool
  • Carbon Literacy training
• Church maintenance
  • Quinquennial Inspections
  • Ecclesiastical monthly risk calendar
  • Tasks for winter and early spring
  • VAT repairs – a success story
• Hearing Loops
• Grants and funding

• Heating
• The National Lottery Community Fund

• Caring for your church building
  • Church Maintenance – Winter tasks
  • Grants for heating projects
  • Volunteers doing building work
• Environmental matters – Eco Diocese
• Information
  • How the DAC can help with large scale projects
  • Sharing church buildings

• Information
  • Managing churchyards
  • RAAC
  • Local Authorities can support parish churches
  • Quinquennial Inspections
  • Scaffolding
  • Health and safety
  • Church maintenance – Autumn tasks
  • DAC meetings

• Heating systems
• Churchyard management resources
• Lightning protection
• Heritage crime

Advice leaflets that will guide you through various parts of churchyard management, including burials, wildlife and planning a memorial garden.

Planning a Garden of Remembrance

This leaflet guides you through the process of planning a Garden of Remembrance.

Planning a Garden of Remembrance leaflet 11

Churchyards: New Land for Burials and closure of an existing churchyard

This leaflet guides you through the process of providing new land for burials, closure of an existing churchyard and the maintenance of a churchyard.

Churchyards New land and closure

Chancellor’s guidance on the re-use of churchyards for burials

This guidance as to the re-use of churchyards for burials in issued by the Chancellor after consultation with the Archdeacons, the DAC and Registrar.

Reuse of Churchyards for Burials

Managing Churchyards and Grounds for Wildlife

This leaflet guides you through the various ways of managing traditional and modern churchyards and grounds. You can also look at the Churchyards page on the website.

Managing churchyards for wildlife Leaflet 38

The Church of England has guidance on how to care for your trees and permissions needed for works to the trees.

This page contains resources from the Churchyard Management training that ran in March 2023 and June 2025.

Please find below all of the resources from the recent Churchyard Management trainings. Further information and links can be found on the Churchyard page of the website.

Diocese of St Albans churchyards

St Albans Churchyard Regulations 2025

Churchyard management training follow up – Q&A

Churchyard management training 2025 presentation

Here you will find examples of Churchyard Management plans to help guide you, as well as Wildlife Trust leaflets for Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire.

Churchyard of Whipsnade, St Mary Magdalene

Churchyard of Weston, Holy Trinity

Churchyard Plan

Beds Wildlife Trust Churchyards Leaflet

Herts and Middlesex Wildlife Trust Churchyards Leaflet