Warren to begin work on a green burial cemetery
At the roadside looking into Newcomb Cemetery, the Warren green burial cemetery will be located behind it where the trees are in the photo on the Town property. (Photo courtesy Amanda Shelmerdine, Cemetery Sexton, Town of Warren)
By the tomb at Fairview facing the area that will be the location of the Warren green burial cemetery. There will be a new gate and entrance going through the existing chain-link fence. (Photo courtesy Amanda Shelmerdine, Cemetery Sexton, Town of Warren)
Inside the green burial cemetery. (Photo courtesy Amanda Shelmerdine, Cemetery Sexton, Town of Warren)
At the roadside looking into Newcomb Cemetery, the Warren green burial cemetery will be located behind it where the trees are in the photo on the Town property. (Photo courtesy Amanda Shelmerdine, Cemetery Sexton, Town of Warren)
By the tomb at Fairview facing the area that will be the location of the Warren green burial cemetery. There will be a new gate and entrance going through the existing chain-link fence. (Photo courtesy Amanda Shelmerdine, Cemetery Sexton, Town of Warren)
Inside the green burial cemetery. (Photo courtesy Amanda Shelmerdine, Cemetery Sexton, Town of Warren)The town of Warren Select Board voted unanimously at its last meeting October 15 for work to begin on a green burial cemetery. It will be an extension of the Newcomb Cemetery, located off of Patterson Mill Road.
Warren’s Cemetery Committee and Sexton have been working on the project proposal for several months.
The expansion, at less than one acre, will be into property owned by the town of Warren, between Newcomb and blueberry fields.
The new cemetery will accommodate “natural“ green burials; no vaults, allowing for natural/biodegradable caskets/urns and noninvasive/nontoxic body care (nontoxic embalming).
Land will be cleared starting this month with the goal to have the new grounds available for first burials in the spring of 2027.
The layout will include an over story of mature trees with open grounds, select native/natural plantings with winding ADA accessible pathways and memorial benches.
Green Burial, according to the the Green Burial Council, a national educational and certifying organization, is a “a way of caring for the dead with minimal environmental impact that aids in the conservation of natural resources, the reduction of carbon emissions, the protection of worker health, and the restoration and protection of habitat.” It also offers a healing way for the loved ones of those who have died to move through this challenging time of loss.
