This week on whiteballoon Insights we talk to George Cox from Tithe Green Natural Burial about the beauty and benefits of natural burial, and their wish to make it accessible to all.
Q: Welcome George. Tithe Green Natural Burial is family-owned and run, and your original site is one of the earliest natural burial grounds in the UK. We’d love to hear about its history.
Yes, Tithe Green is a small, family-led team, with James and Helena O’Donnell at the helm. Tithe Green was founded in 1999 by James’ late grandmother. That same sense of generational care and stewardship remains at the heart of what we do and extends across all our sites today. We now steward four sites, our flagship site in Nottinghamshire alongside subsequent sites in Leicestershire, Rutland, and County Durham, near Hartlepool. We are always looking for new sites to bring the option of natural burial to more families across the UK.
Q: When you are looking at locations for a natural burial ground, what is most important to you?
For those who can’t travel long distances but still want to visit loved ones, it is important that our burial grounds are located somewhere accessible. We must balance this with our desire to create a space that feels separated from the hustle and bustle of nearby cities or towns; somewhere people can visit their loved ones in complete peace. Whether we are taking over stewardship of an established natural burial ground or land in general, we keep to our vision of a place where nature is allowed – and encouraged – to grow freely, a place that can be nurtured into something sacred.
Q: We would love to hear about the different species of tree that can be planted in memory of loved ones. Does the choice vary from site to site?
Across our three Midlands sites, we have seven trees for families to choose from: Beech, Wild Cherry, Lime, Crab Apple, Rowan, Hazel, and Whitebeam. These trees have been chosen for their compatibility with the land, and the habitat and food they can provide for wildlife; although the team may recommend specific species based on which site families are planting them.
At our site in County Durham, burial and ashes interment occur in a mature oak forest beneath established trees.
Q: As well as natural burial, you offer a number of other options for people to choose from? Can you tell us more?
We know that choosing a goodbye – whether for yourself in the future or for a loved one at a time of need – is a deeply personal experience, and it’s important to us that families feel they can choose something that reflects the person they are honouring.
Our natural burial option can happen within our growing woodland (where a memorial tree is planted) or in our wildflower meadow.
We also inter ashes at our natural burial grounds, again in our woodland with a memorial tree or in our wildflower meadow.
For families who have already carried out a burial or interment but wish to honour their loved one at one of our natural burial grounds – perhaps for a birthday or anniversary – a memorial tree offers a beautiful way to do this. It’s a living tribute, something family and friends can watch grow year after year.
All plots are marked by bespoke Welsh-slate plaques; in the woodland these are mounted on oak posts, and in the meadow these are placed flat atop the floor in order to allow the wildflowers to grow uninterrupted.
Q: Natural burial sites are beautiful resting places for those who have died, but they are also lovely spaces for friends and family to return to. Do you find that people continue to visit as time goes on?
Absolutely! We have people who visit their loved ones at our site every single day. They bring camping chairs and sit for a while. We have families who bring picnics and those who come for a walk with their dogs. Our overall mission is to provide a beautiful, peaceful resting place for friends and family to visit – somewhere that doesn’t feel too confronting, somewhere that feels comforting.
We also host monthly Memory Mile walks and Guided Grief Groups – informal, gentle sessions facilitated by local bereavement specialists, where we share a hot drink, learn more about grief, and invite people to share if they feel like it. It’s a chance to spend time on site and connect with others who understand what it is like to live alongside loss. Community is hugely important to us for this reason – we want our burial grounds to be places people feel seen, heard, and a part of something beyond the day of the burial or interment.
Q: You currently have four sites in the East Midlands and the North East. Are you planning to expand to other parts of the UK?
Absolutely! We genuinely believe that natural burial offers a flexible, unique option for people – and with no maintenance, lease, or out of area fees, it is an affordable option, too. We are working hard to make it as accessible as possible for people all around the UK because we are true advocates for this beautiful, green way of leaving the earth.
Q: And finally, the countryside and nature are clearly important to you. Is there a book or a person who has inspired you in this respect?
Our love and respect for nature is so deeply ingrained in everything we do. The people who inspire us are the people who choose natural burial, and who care for their loved one’s resting place with such devotion. The people who form friendships on site with other families who visit, the people who attend our Grief Groups and are brave enough to share, and the people who choose to honour their loved one by contributing to a growing woodland, providing biodiversity, food and habitat for thousands of animals now and into the future.
Thank you George for sharing these insights.
To find out more about Tithe Green and their natural burial grounds, please visit the Tithe Green website.
Photo: L-R James O’Donnell, co-owner, Tracey Gelder, customer success manager, George Cox, marketing & events, and Ellie Nightingale, administration assistant.