The Parks Unit services all 40 of the city’s burial grounds

Did you know that Edinburgh was the first local authority to provide a woodland burial facility in 1995?

Now there is a woodland area at Corstorphine Hill where burials are marked with a tree planting instead of the traditional gravestone.

The Parks Unit services all the city’s burial grounds, of which there are 40 separate sites.

Following a public campaign, a number of sites were compulsorily purchased in 1994 from their previous private owners due to their neglected state – including Warriston, North Merchiston, Comely Bank, Newington, Corstorphine and Saughton.

A new burial ground is currently being planned in the Craigmillar area to meet the needs of the city.

Burial grounds are managed and administered by Environmental and Consumer Services and burial preparation and grounds maintenance is carried out by the Parks Unit.

The team that works in this section has a sensitive and sympathetic nature. Staff receive special training in customer care and operate on a seven-day-a-week, 24-hour basis.

The latter is very important for meeting the needs of the Muslim community.

Different religions require different burial practices and we provide separate burial areas for the Muslim and Roman Catholic communities.