Hinton Park Woodland Burial Ground & Funeral Directors Reviews 

Having visited my sister-in-law's grave today, I was deeply disappointed by the condition of the cemetery grounds.

The problems begin as soon as you arrive. The driveway is full of potholes, and the hedges are poorly maintained, giving an immediate impression of neglect.

The geese have become a major issue. We were told some time ago that steps were being considered to reduce their numbers, but nothing appears to have been done. They leave droppings everywhere, which are unhygienic, and they have caused significant damage to the grounds by eating the grass and plants.

The grass is often left uncut, and overall the cemetery frequently looks untidy and poorly cared for. It is upsetting to visit a place that should be peaceful and respectfully maintained, only to find it in such a disappointing state.

If you are considering laying a loved one to rest here, I would urge you to think carefully. They are happy to take your money, but the ongoing care and maintenance simply do not reflect what families should expect.

It has reached the point where we dread visiting because we never know what condition the grounds will be in. Our loved ones deserve far better than this.

Mum decided where she wanted her service to be and what a lovely choice! From the first meeting Jo was absolutely fantastic, knowledgeable, helpful and kind. Being a large family a lot of people wanted to be involved and Jo did an amazing job of sorting us all out and getting things as we wanted. It was lovely too that Mum who died at 103, was unfortunately there for rather longer than usual, but she used to go and chat with her every day, we really were impressed with this kind of care for Mum. I have to say all the staff were lovely, although we mainly dealt with Jo. The actual day went off very well it was a wonderful turn out and a great tribute to a fantastic, Mum, Nanny, GreatNanny and Great Great Nanny. Thank you Jo, John, Rob and all the staff.

My mother was persuaded to choose this location for her final arrangements, so we had no choice but to hold her funeral here. Both of my parents' ashes remain here, and I doubt I'll visit them again because I dislike this region. They always addressed me as Mrs. in their correspondence, referring to my mother, which was unsettling. After the funeral, they never reached out regarding the plot or signage; it remains unmarked, and the paperwork has gone missing. I assume the bill is settled, so there's no incentive for them to follow up.The day of the funeral was rainy, so we skipped the interment site visit. Now, I’m unsure of my parents' exact resting place since the last time I tried to find them, I got lost in the tall grass. A simple email with directions would have been appreciated. For those planning end-of-life arrangements, consider simpler options. Opt for an economical cremation and let your family scatter your ashes where they see fit. This experience was not what I wanted for my parents and could have been smoother.

So many problems with The brook. My contract allows for permitted wildflowers as per your website ! and previous meetings with the manager confirms this.
Today I visited and all the wild flowers have been removed , no oxeye daisies , pulled my mums forget me nots up. Completely bare now and I am furious. This is not the first time I’ve complained regarding the brook.
The brook now looks bare and cold and baron. No beautiful wild flowers like the remainder of the burial ground. I will be taking this complaint up with senior management. Extremely disappointed to say the least. I wish I had not laid my parents to rest here.

Following the tragic death of my 25 year old son, Hinton Park Burial Ground and Funeral Directors, particularly Marie, went above and beyond to support us in planning the most wonderful funeral and burial.
Nothing was too much trouble and we felt ‘held’ and supported throughout the whole experience. Marie and her colleagues took great care of my son’s body before he was buried, this was a great comfort to us.
The funeral ran very smoothly, with attention to detail. When I’ve visited since the funeral, the staff have made time to check in with me. This means a lot in such a tragic situation.
I could not recommend their services highly enough.

From the very first call, everyone I spoke to and met was incredible. Jo Huey who helped me with all the arrangements for my Mum was really supportive, kind and looked after all of us whilst we ensured my Mum’s final farewell went smoothly and just as she would’ve liked.

Clare Bishop was a great choice to lead the service.

Thank you to everyone at Hinton Burial Ground for taking great care of our Mum.

Please may I take this opportunity to say a big thank you to Hinton Park Woodland Burial Ground and Funeral Directors.
In particular, I wish to thank Jo Huey who was very patient, understanding and communicative throughout the whole process.
The service itself also went very smoothly thanks to the professionalism of Karen Hopwood the Celebrant.
My wife had suffered from MS, as some of the mourners - for which transport to the burial site was kindly laid on.
The attendees I have since spoken to all said what a lovely service and committal it was.
I know there are some negative comments on this site but I can only speak as I find and I found that the whole experience was handled with professionalism and dignity - for which I am truly thankful.
Yours Sincerely
Peter Domoney

I will never accept that my mum chose such an awful place to be laid to rest. The shambles. If you want a funeral company to put you through endless stress upset and miscommunication then use these !
I have written a Google review and made several attempts via email to get a response. Believe me stay clear.
They say they have to contact their client to respond to any complaints they receive. Such nonsense. I have emailed them about personal things that concerned me but they feel the need to break my confidentiality and discuss with my mums partner.
The service …. mums flowers on the floor not around her coffin as we were led to believe. Mum shoved at the side of the room. Cleaning cupboard left open. Mix up with staff over collection of mum’s locks of hair and finger prints when I had collected them the following week I had a call asking me to get them ! Totally incompetent I could go on but
I am taking things further to the NAFD
Honestly they have caused us a lot of heartache and stress
Stay Away from the place find somewhere else.
If I had my way I’d never of let my mum be there but for some reason it’s where she wanted to be.
Hinton : please do not reply with one if your generated “ we take things serious” because you don’t.

Our Wonderful Mother Joyce passed away on January, 18th and she was finally buried at Hinton Park Woodland on 18th February. We cannot thank you enough for your professionalism and the care that you provided to both our Mother and to all thoses that attended on the day. The service provided by your staff, particularly the Celebrant Anna, was excellent, and we wish to thank everyone who helped make it a very memorable occasion.
Kind Regards,
Bridget Roberts.

Hinton Park made a sad occasion beautiful

Everything was made very easy and pleasant. We all felt relaxed with the event, helped by the friendly staff.

It would have been 5 stars as the ceremony went very well and I was very pleased, however the way that the day was organised left a lot to be improved on. I received several phone calls from various members of the staff (never the same member of staff) saying that for instance "the horses could not be guaranteed for the day". once that was sorted then something else had apparently gone wrong. These problems were despite the complete funeral having been agreed in minute detail with senior staff along with the date and time, and some of those attending the funeral had already booked hotel accommodation. To be fare to Hinton Park I think they were short staffed at the time, however it is not the correct way to treat a grieving spouse.

Excellent service from the very start. My mum passed away at home and from the first phonecall they were very caring and understanding. Picking mum up and caring for her until the funeral and organising it to what mum would want was outstanding. I can't thank them enough.

My mum's funeral was a shambles - we tried to discuss a prepaid plan as she moved to hospice and you did not return the calls - so we went elsewhere but wanted her remains added to my Dad's plot (we had paid for that in 2009) - she passed and you did not want to work with the directors we had chosen.

You sent the person leading the service out before agreeing a date or a quote - on the day there was a service going on when we arrived - it was just a totally shit experience.. the only good thing was the person who lead the actual service.

When my dad was buried in 2009 - it was welcoming and the grounds were wheelchair accessible - my dad's plot chosen for accessiblity - mum in her wheelchair despite complaints has been unable to visit due to you replacing the paths with beach gravel and soft bark not accessible by chair.

If my parents have not wished to be placed.together - we would never have used your services and when our local funeral director refuses to work with you - it really says a lot on how badly managed the place is now.

Avoid if you can.

I cannot believe I have received an email asking me to rate our experience on the unbelievable poor and unprofessional service we received from Hinton Park. If it not were for a couple of individuals stepping up to the mark and going beyond what they had to do, I’m not sure the funeral would have gone ahead.

Below is a copy and paste from an email which I have edited so as not to be open to litigation!!!

Good afternoon (HPWBG) thanks for the call this afternoon and your offer of some £xxxxx in compensation for the extremely poor service we have received from yourselves. As discussed, we are not prepared to pay the outstanding balance until we receive a compensation offer that more realistically reflects the stress and heartache that we were put through in every single element leading up to the funeral & service of our mother, this being something and a time that Hinton should have done everything possible to avoid. We say again and note that Hinton is ‘signed up to’ the NAFD code of good practice, which was never met at any stage, and also note that the NAFD have a complaints procedure which we may feel it necessary to go through.

They sold it well to my mother when she was alive so had no other option to have her funeral here.
Unfortunately both my parents ashes are here and will probably never go near their ashes again since I don't like living in this area of the country.
Their communication to me was always using the title "Mrs", meaning my mothers name which was pretty triggering. Once the funeral was over I received no communication in regards to the funeral or plot signage/plaque so it still sits unmarked and the form they gave me before the funeral has since been lost, i'm guessing that the bill has been paid now so why would they want to chase that up.
Because the weather on the day was rainy we decided to not all go to the site of the interment and so am not really sure where she is with my dad as the last time I went looking for him I got lost in all the long grass, would've thought a quick email telling me where they put her could've been a nice touch.
If you're looking to decide what to do when you die, don't do this, it will just leave your loved ones stuck and tied to one place with little to no choice. Just do a cheap cremation and let your family spread your ashes as they would like as this is not what I wanted for my parents at all and the process was not as easy as it could've been

Wonderful, compassionate, caring and straightforward and beautiful grounds.

The actual event on the day fortunately was well organised by the ground staff.
But the whole experience of trying to organise the funeral was incredibly stressful.
We had a pre paid plan but no one from the Hinton park funeral directors were available. Making it difficult to get hold off anyone to even talk to. Which didn't leave us with any confidence that things would be organised.

Fortunately my husband is a retired vicar and at least had a real understanding on what needed to be done.

This was the internment of mum's ashes in a plot next to dad, who had passed more than 20 years ago. It was a small intimate family gathering. The staff at Hinton were fantastic. Their communication and guidance before the event was only surpassed by their assistance and compassion on the day.

We could not have asked for better service. Reliable, kept us fully informed at all times leading up to the burial.The service was conducted in a professional, compassionate and empathetic manner by a lovely lady who could not have been kinder.