Bereavement services

We're guardians of over 300 Properties in Care. Of these, more than a quarter contain burial grounds which, at various points in history, have served as sites of interment for human remains.

These properties include many different types of burial, such as ancient sites where ceremonial cremations may have taken place. Because we're not fully certain how our ancient ancestors used these places, they're known as a sacred site of unconfirmed religious origin.

Elsewhere, the picture is much clearer. From impressive cathedrals and abbeys to serene churches and priories, almost all of the religious sites in our care have some kind of graveyard. There's also special cemeteries like the one at Jarlshof, used for the interment of seamen recovered along the coast.

As custodians, it's part of our role to ensure activities like burials, the scattering of ashes and the establishment of memorials are respectful and legally compliant. This guide gives an overview of our bereavement services and the legislation and processes which are currently in place.

Certain Properties in Care contain designated burial grounds where individuals may hold a legal right to burial. This allows them to request the interment of human remains or cremated remains within a casket.

If you believe you may qualify and wish to make a formal interment request, you should contact our Land and Property Management Department by emailing landandpropertymanagement@hes.scot.

Submitting an application

Applicants must submit proof of the right to burial, along with a completed statutory burial application form, also known as a BF form. 

• Proof of the right to burial includes one or more of: a lair certificate, a right to burial certificate, a will, a title deed or other legal documentation confirming burial rights.

• The Scottish Government requires the use of a BF form for all burial applications. These forms are available online and include guidance notes to assist applicants.

Download the relevant BF form as a PDF from the Scottish Government website

Scottish Government burial regulations guidance

Required consents

Consents for Burial are required in order to progress an application. This includes Scheduled Monument consent and HES internal consent, along with Scottish Ministers’ consent and landowner consent where applicable.

HES will review your application and determine whether it can progress to Scheduled Monument consent. In cases where environmental surveys or lair depth testing are required, applicants will be responsible for the associated costs. These fees are non-refundable.

Due to statutory obligations, the process may take approximately 12 weeks or longer. For this reason, the procedure is most suitable for the interment of cremated remains within a casket.

In several cases, when HES took over as guardians of a Property in Care, we were provided with a burial register with the details of burials and internments linked to the site. We're actively working to digitise this information.

Unfortunately, we do not currently hold a complete set of burial registers. The submission of these records was not a mandatory requirement at the time some guardianship arrangements were made. In some instances, records may have been lost or destroyed.

Accessing burial register information

You may require details from a burial register to complete a statutory burial form (see Right to burial). To access this information, email landandpropertymanagement@hes.scot including the name of the property and burial ground in question, along with any known lair or plot details.

If HES does hold the relevant burial register, we will assist accordingly. Where further research or archival visits are required, this may be offered as a chargeable service. If records are unavailable through HES, applicants are encouraged to pursue their enquiry through the National Records of Scotland or their local authority archives.

We don't currently provide genealogical services. If you are seeking support with ancestral research, we encourage exploring commercial genealogy providers. Many offer specialist services tailored to burial enquiries. A variety of online subscription-based platforms offer access to archival material, including digitised catalogues held by the National Records of Scotland.

National Records of Scotland

We're sometimes asked about the scattering of ashes or the installation of memorial benches at Properties in Care. 

Unfortunately, we are not able to permit either of these. We fully recognise the personal significance of these requests and sincerely apologise that we are not able to facilitate them at this time. We're reviewing our procedures with a view to producing a policy concerning the scattering of ashes and memorial benches. We want to provide fair and transparent processes which align with other public bodies and ensures the monuments are protected.

If you would like to include these amazing historic places in your legacy, you could consider leaving a gift in your will. This contributes to our conservation work and our role in protecting Scotland's heritage for future generations.

Find out more about how you can support us