You can bury someone in your garden and as long as certain guidelines are followed (mainly to avoid potential public health risks) there is no law against being buried in your own garden, or on any private land given the permission of the landowner.
You can find out more about Wendii Miller, who arranged everything for her mother's funeral and wrote an account and filmed the experience.
The burial site should be on land with a deep water table and be sufficient distance from watercourses so as not to pose a pollution threat. Having any grave near a water source is a concern for the Environment Agency from a possible contamination angle
However, as long as certain guidelines are followed there should be no objection:
The site must be more than 30 metres from any spring or any running or standing water. It must also be more than 10 metres from any ‘dry’ ditch or field drain
The site should be at least 50 metres away from any well, borehole or spring that supplies water for any use.
When preparing the grave, make sure there is no standing water when it is first dug and that the grave is not dug in very sandy soil
There should be at least one metre of soil above and below the body after burial
Planning permission can be a contentious issue, with some local councils in the past insisting that permission is required as it would be a “change of use” from “garden” to “burial ground”. Also, it's not only a Material Change of Use that might trigger the need for planning permission, but also whether the works involve engineering operations i.e would the digging of the hole need to be undertaken by a professional as opposed to a lay person. If so, the act of excavation may be classed as an engineering operation and might require planning permission
A land owner should check with his solicitor that there is no covenant on the deeds to the land that could prohibit the burial, and also check that no bye law is being broken. Thought must be given to how long the chosen site will remain in the ownership of the deceased’s family, as unless restrictive covenants are put in place by a solicitor, future owners could exhume the body (with permission from the Home Office) and bury it elsewhere, or even refuse you access to the grave causing considerable distress
When preparing the grave, make sure there is no standing water when it is first dug and that the grave is not dug in very sandy soil.. Electrical and other services must obviously be avoided, and so you may need to contact the gas, electricity and water board to request plans of the land to ensure your own safety
Safe excavation of the grave is important and a minimum of 1 metre (3 ft) of soil must be left on top of the coffin lid/over the body after the burial has taken place. You may want to consider asking a local gravedigger who is used to working in graveyards if he could dig the excavation for you
There is a requirement to record the burial on the deeds to the property, in accordance with the Registration of Burials Act 1864. A location map must be attached to the deed to confirm the position of the grave and details of the name of the deceased, age, date and place of death should be recorded. This will reduce the potential complication of the Police being called if human remains are discovered during future garden maintenance or building work, and any prospective buyer should have the right to know that someone is buried within the grounds of the property
A certificate for burial issued by the Coroner or Registrar of Birth and Deaths (called the green disposal) will have to be obtained and any other procedural matters of the Registrar satisfied. The detachable section of this certificate needs to be completed and returned to the Registrar by the person who is arranging the burial. The Registrar does not record the place/ location of the burial and this is why it is necessary to write these details on the deeds to the property
Financially, having a home burial will be considerably cheaper than a conventional one, but having a body or two buried in the back garden will probably reduce the value of the property somewhat if it is sold in the future. Many buyers might not even consider the purchase of a property that has a body buried in the garden
If there are any serious infectious disease concerns relating to the deceased person, then you must also inform the local Environmental Health department.
For more information see the Natural Death Centre website.