Quarrington Hill Churchyard – Residents Opinion

As residents will be aware, to pick up concerns raised by the community our MP Alan Strickland has been working with Coxhoe Parish Council, the Church, Durham Couty Council and the Commonwealth War Graves Commission for some months to improve the maintenance of this churchyard.

Coxhoe Parish Council has been carrying out some remedial works to get the churchyard into a suitable condition and standard in the meantime and we’re really pleased that as a partnership, we’ve agreed a provisional plan and we want to hear your views.

Given the Parochial Church Council have been clear that they don’t have the resources to maintain the churchyard to the standard they would want to, Coxhoe Parish Council held a Special Meeting on 17 June 2026 to consider whether they could step in and take on the long-term maintenance of the Churchyard.

What do we want to achieve?
– Improve the condition of the churchyard to make it a more dignified place of rest

– Protect access to Commonwealth War Graves

– Ensuring ashes can continue to be interred

– Agree a plan that’s sustainable for years to come

Our proposed plan:

– Transfer the maintenance responsibilities of the whole site from the Church to Coxhoe Parish Council to ensure improved ongoing maintenance

– Continue to offer burial of cremated remains in the newer section (Zone 1) and ensure grass in
this area is maintained to good standard

– Ensure ongoing access to the Commonwealth War Graves and that they have a dignified setting

– Manage Zone 2 in the spirit of The Living Churchyard Board in the corner of the Churchyard.

– Keep the small wild parts of the churchyard in zone 3 as is, and as a home to flowers and wildlife, to allow plants and fauna to flourish while maintaining the rest in a similar way to zone 2.

– Improve the safety of the trees, some of which are suffering badly from Ash Die Back, by carrying out a tree survey and pruning or felling and ideally replacing where necessary

– Undertake repairs to walls and gateways as needed

– Improve the pathways by carrying out works on sections that have become overgrown and potentially install more birdsmouth fencing to improve visitor safety

Of the options open to us to improve the Churchyard, in ALL of them, the Churchyard would be closed for burials, with only burial of ashes permitted in (zone 1 only), as is now the case. This is due to ground conditions of the Churchyard and safety concerns in admitting new burials.

We need your view:

We would therefore be grateful if you would complete this survey by 15 July 2026.