Ham Down Woodland Burial Ground

Locate a plot and search electronic records

To make it easier to access burial records and find where a plot is located we have created an electronic version of our data along with a map. These records are available using the 'locate a plot' link below, so anyone can search the burial records linked to the interactive map.

Choice of Trees 

There is a choice of native trees to plant at the top of the grave. This will be done at the appropriate time of the year and the tree will be replaced if it should die within five years.

Small Leaf Lime (Tilia cordata)

A native tree, known to have been abundant throughout England in antiquity but nowadays more usually confined in the wild to woodland areas. Small-leaved Lime is a deciduous tree, up to 25 m in height, with a main trunk often forking above and a smooth grey bark which breaks up into plates later. It is a native of woods on deep, fertile, base-rich soils and can grow in excess of 30m. tall  The wood beneath the bark of this tree is known as ‘bast’ and was historically used to make low grade cords or ropes. It is soft and even-grained, ideal for carving and was used by one of England's best known carvers, Grinling Gibbons (1648-1721). Nowadays the Small Leaf Lime is typically found growing on ancient banks in woodlands in the south of England.

English Oak (Quercus robur)

Quercus robur (Latin quercus, "oak" + robur "strength) or English oak, is a large deciduous tree 25–35 m tall (exceptionally to 50 m), with lobed and nearly sessile (very short-stalked) leaves 7–14 cm long. Flowering takes place in mid spring, and their fruit, called acorns, ripen by the following autumn. The acorns are 2–2.5 cm long, pedunculate (having a peduncle or acorn-stalk, 3–7 cm long) with one to four acorns on each peduncle. It is a long-lived tree, with a large widespreading head of rugged branches.
While it may naturally live to an age of a few centuries, many of the oldest trees are pollarded or coppiced, both pruning techniques that extend the tree's potential lifespan, if not its health. It is remarkable for the large number of wildlife species it supports.

Hornbeam (Carpinus Betulus)

Hornbeam is a sturdy deciduous tree superficially resembling Beech with a maximum height on 30m and maximum age of 150 years. This tree is native to Europe and Asia Minor, including southern Britain. It prefers low lying rich soils or clays and is tolerant of shade and frost. The leaves are mid-green and it has green catkins from late spring to autumn, turning to clusters of winged fruit in autumn providing food for wildlife.
The wood is white, hard and heavy, but not flexible. It has few modern uses but it was formerly much sought after, not least for fuel because of its high calorific value. As a tree hornbeam is still highly valued. It will grow on stiff clays, thin gravels and lime rich soils. Ancient stems and pollards are still retained, managed and cherished for amenity. Ornamental hedges, mazes and pleached avenues are increasingly being reinstated.

Silver Birch (Betula pendula)

Silver Birch (Betula pendula) is a medium deciduous tree, typically reaching 15-25m tall, exceptionally up to 39m , with a slender crown of arched branches with drooping branchlets. The bark is white, often with black diamond-shaped marks or larger patches at the base. The shoots are rough with small warts, and hairless, and the leaves 3-6 cm long, triangular with a broad base and pointed tip, and coarsely serrated margins. The flowers are wind-pollinated catkins, produced before the leaves in early spring, the small (1-2 mm) winged seeds ripening in late summer on 3-5 cm long catkins.

Silver birch is distributed throughout almost all of Europe and in Asia Minor. As pioneer species, one of the important functions which birch trees fulfil in ecosystems is that of improving soils. They are deep-rooted, and their roots draw up nutrients into their branches and leaves, which the trees use for their growth. Birches support a large community of insects and other invertebrates, with 334 species known to feed on them. The invertebrates in turn are food for various bird species, whilst other birds such as the siskin (Carduelis spinus) feed on the seeds in autumn.