From dust to ashes - online talk
Arnos Vale Cemetery · BS4
9 September 2026 – 9 September 2026
Workshop
ONLINE TALK: An illustrated talk tracing the rise of cremation in Britain from the first cremation in 1885 to modern trends such as direct cremation and water cremation. This fully illustrated talk looks at the factors that led to the first cremation at Woking in March 1885 and explores why cremation was slow to develop in the decades that followed. After the Second World War its popularity rose dramatically, and today just over 80 percent of funerals take place at crematoria. The talk concludes by looking at the shift from burial to cremation and considers modern developments such as direct cremation and the emerging practice of 'water cremation'.