10 Unique Reasons Why Harbour View Crematorium is the Natural Choice for a Funeral
1. Environmentally Friendly Principles Including Solar Power for Our Crematory
We believe Harbour View is the greenest crematorium in the country. Among many reasons for this belief is our solar farm that generates more electricity than is used by our cremators. Since 2005 we have planted many thousands of trees and continue planting more each year, including re-instatement of traditional hedges and a lake to encourage bio-diversity. Click here to read more about our ‘green’ policies.
2. Direct Cremation Without the Deceased Being Taken Afar
From the wide geographical area we serve, a Direct Cremation can be arranged by one simple contact with us following which the deceased can be collected by us and cared for at Harbour View until the cremation. Peace of mind that cremation is at a location you know and could visit, and that it is set in beautiful, natural Dorset countryside. Why go further afield! Click here for more information about Direct Cremation at Harbour View.
3. Time Separation Between Funerals
We never risk hosting funerals that are too close together in time or location. Our Ceremony Halls are well separated around the Harbour View grounds and we have a policy of a minimum of 90 minutes of separation between funerals (the usual amount of time is considerably longer when mourners stay with us for a Wake). Many crematoria have 30 minutes separation between funeral times which we believe is not a proper way to remember a person’s life with dignity.
4. No Requirement for ‘Victorian’ Funeral Practices (Unless You Want To)
A funeral at Harbour View will be exactly what the bereaved family wants it to be. Traditional elements of a funeral, such as black funeral cortege and coffin bearers etc are often requested but unlike at other crematoria, they are not a requirement. For bereaved families that do not wish to use traditional funeral facilities, Harbour View provides the unique option that the coffined deceased is placed to rest in the Ceremony Hall, long before the mourners arrive, making the time leading up to the funeral service, more informal and relaxed.
5. Everything Needed, All on One Site
From the first visit to make funeral arrangements, to the Chapels of Rest where the deceased will be. From the funeral ceremony to the refreshments wake and the cremation to the disposition of the cremated remains; floral tributes, memorial stones, ongoing bereavement support. Not all bereaved families require every part of our services – but its all there if they do, all at one convenient location. Click here to find out more about our on-site funeral home facilities.
6. Best Value Packages Available to Suit Any Budget
We are able to offer all-inclusive packages that are unique and we believe provide best value for the level of service. And because of the unique way Harbour View is arranged, you only need to pay for the services/options you want. From Direct Cremation to Celebrations Of Life – you make the choice to have it your way. Click here to see our price lists.
7. Choice of Ceremony Halls and Refreshments Suites
No crematorium in the UK has the choice of ceremony halls that Harbour View offers or has private refreshment suites where bereaved families can host a private wake for their guests. The buildings vary in size to accommodate a wide range of congregation sizes and have been designed very differently in style and characteristics to reflect a variety of tastes; all provide a sense of light, space, comfort and in the Ceremony Halls, a sense of peace and spirituality. We also have ceremony halls away from Harbour View at most of our funeral homes where bereaved families that do not wish to travel to Harbour View can host a small and private funeral service in their hometown/village. Click here to find out more about our ceremony halls and refreshments suites.
8. Peaceful and Rural Location With Far Reaching Views
Our unique position at Harbour View provides a feeling of being deep in the Dorset countryside while actually being in touching distance of main ‘arterial’ road network, east, west and north. A sense of peace and tranquillity embraces you as you wander the extensive grounds, heightened by the presence of countless birds and meadows during summer. You may well encounter deer, rabbits, pheasants, bats, owls and more, if you keep a watch. From higher ground, the views over Purbeck to the Wareham Channel in Poole Harbour and beyond to Corfe Castle and Nine Barrow Down on the Purbeck ridge are breathtaking.
9. Foraging for Floristry
Our florists have a passion for adding material into the floral arrangements that has grown within the grounds of Harbour View, creating beautiful tributes with a natural and informal twist. The existing landscape of Harbour View provides a considerable amount of flora for our use and this is complemented by produce we grow at Home Farm, specifically for use in our floral tributes. Whether it be the floral tributes that bereaved families request for a funeral, the vase arrangements decorating our ceremony halls, refreshments suites and offices, or the little bunches that visitors purchase to place on graves in the burial ground, our in-house floristry adds to the environmentally friendly principles of Harbour View. Click here to find out more about our in-house floristry.
10. Home Farm for Catering Produce
Uniquely, Harbour View has its own home farm as an extension to the grounds. Here, the grounds team work to provide our catering team with produce that can be used in the refreshments offered to mourners attending a wake. We have over 50 chickens that between them provide most of the eggs required for all those cakes that are eaten in the Afternoon Teas. Tomatoes, salad and vegetables are grown and throughout an extended season with the assistance of our barns and polytunnels. An orchard provides apples, pears and plums for cakes and preserves. The Harbour View beehives give us a full supply of honey from our friendly bees that also help with the pollination around the grounds. Finally there is the compost which allows us to re-cycle flowers once the arrangements have wilted and to avoid most food waste heading to landfill. Click here to find out more about the Harbour View Home Farm.
10a. Ongoing Bereavement Support Following the Funeral
Although we set out to share 10 unique reasons, there is one more that deserves a place on the list – an additional service that many families value most of all.
It is often the months and years after a funeral that the closest relatives experience their bereavement most acutely – long after friends and neighbours have returned to normal life. We understand bereavement is a permanent change and a new life without the loved-one needs to be forged – it isn’t easy! We don’t offer a simple solution because there isn’t one but we do offer some tools to help bereaved people find a way forward. We have communal memorial services during the year, particularly on special celebration dates such as Mother’s Day and Father’s Day, Carol Services as we approach Christmas. We also offer social events aimed particularly towards widows and widowers at which people in similar situations, but are at different stages of their bereavement, can meet, share memories over a cup of tea and cake, and forge new friendships. We believe our Outlook Bereavement Support is a unique service in this country and it is completely free-of-charge. To see more on this, including our List of Events, visit our web pages dedicated to this: Outlook Bereavement Support.
Harbour View – the natural place to celebrate a life and remember a person that is loved.