Fees for burials are normally, but not always, included in the fees collected by the funeral home
with which the family is engaged. This is a convenience to the family.
Please note that these fees are associated only with the cemetery and not with the churches or
ministers (including Pohick Church clergy) conducting the service. Upon the death of a loved
one, family members are strongly encouraged to promptly contact those members of the clergy
who have had the most recent pastoral relationship with the deceased so that arrangements can
be made for services to be conducted by that minister in his or her home church, at a funeral
home chapel, and/or at the graveside. Accordingly, burials in the Historic Church are
reserved for those who, at the time of death, were active members of the congregation.
Such services are normally presided over by the clergy of Pohick Church with the support
of church staff and volunteers.
Cemetery fees are on a sliding scale that considers a number of factors. First of all, the day of
week affect the rate. Burials on Saturdays have a higher fee associated with them.
A second factor affecting the burial price is whether the burial will be the only burial carried out
in the plot, or if two burials will eventually take place. It is a common and proper practice to
conduct two burials in the same plot, one above the other. But since the lower burial is at a
greater depth, the fee for that first burial is accordingly higher. The second burial in such a plot
has the same fee as a single burial. In general, such double burials may be conducted in any plot,
as long as the slope across the site does not inhibit the work of the gravedigger. Consult the
Cemetery Warden on this matter when considering the purchase of plots on sloping ground.
Lastly, the size of the casket and vault/liner to be interred will affect the burial fee. Burial of
infants carries a fee less than half of that for adults. In turn, the burial of persons of exceptional
size carries a somewhat higher fee.
For all burials, the casket must be placed in either a concrete liner or burial vault. In both cases
the purpose is the same. Since all caskets are eventually subject to structural failure, a vault or
liner will support the casket and prevent the sinking of the ground above. Both liners and vaults
are purchased through one’s funeral director. A concrete liner typically costs several hundred
dollars. In contrast, burial vaults can easily cost thousands of dollars, particularly when ornately
decorated and lined with solid bronze.
The liner meets all requirements of the cemetery. Use of a liner or vault may be waived at the
discretion of the Cemetery Warden for the burial of infants and children under the age of two.
In lieu of burial in full caskets, one may choose to bury cremated remains in one’s own deeded
plot. The fees for such burials are in the range of several hundred dollars. One advantage to
burying cremated remains in one’s own plot is that the family may select and use a container of
their choice for the interment.
Interments of all types require at least 48 hours notice. Burials may not be conducted on Sundays
or on Christmas Day.