Barrow Burial Chambers

Choosing a final resting place for cremation ashes is a personal decision. Everyone’s hopes for resting in peace are a little different.

There’s now a new trend that’s about 5,000 years old — storing the cremated ashes of loved ones in the flickering candlelight of a neolithic burial chamber called a Barrow.

A barrow is  a venue to celebrate life, providing a natural alternative to modern memorials and cemeteries.

Barrow building was the dominant method of housing the dead into the Middle Bronze Age, when people, or their cremated remains, were buried either on their own or accompanied with arrangements of grave goods. Distinctive food vessel pots or collared urns were sometimes buried with them. Some barrows were in use for generations, probably housing the remains of extended families over many decades.

More than just a tomb, these handcrafted, hand-built stone monuments were designed for generations to use as a territorial marker, a place of religious offering and even a focus for community activity. Ancient burial mounds were built by the community in order to venerate their dead, and the evidence of feasting, found at some sites, suggests that they were places where the community came together to remember their lost loved ones through celebration.

A company called Sacred Stones is dedicated to creating these meaningful final resting places for cremation ashes, inspired by these ancient burial mounds of our prehistoric ancestors.

Urns are placed in an alcove set in the stone walls, this is called a niche. Niches range in size from a ‘single’ for one set of ashes, to a multiple-urn niche suitable for families.  All niches come with a stone facade which can be personalised.  Some families choose to have stained glass doors which can be opened. Families have the entire day to conduct any type of ceremony they would like, and will be able to visit the space at any point afterwards.

So why a ‘barrow’? This is what one of Scared Stones’ customer thinks:

“When I visit my brother’s ashes, the thought of taking a walk through a beautiful setting to prepare the mind, to focus on the person we love, to be somewhere calm and peaceful is compelling; away from roads and gravestones and distractions and the doctrine of religion. Somewhere where the spirit is present and our connection to loved ones that have moved on feels like a natural progression rather than an end. I have this sense of peace and connection”

In this video, families talk openly about their own experiences and why they chose to use a Barrow to create a unique memorial for their loved ones ashes. This is a collection of testimonies from families who chose to use Sacred Stones’ Willow Row barrow to commemorate and celebrate a life. The individual stories detail personal journeys.