A family of undertakers are very excited about their plans for the creation of a round barrow on their burial site.

Jo Vassie, who owns Higher Ground Meadow near Beaminster with her husband Peter and her son Tom, claims it is the first one to be constructed in Dorset for thousands of years.

A round barrow is a mound of earth raised over a burial plot and the structure, to be built on Higher Ground Meadow, will consist of stone chambers and passageways on the inside.

Its walls will be formed with niches where urns containing cremated remains of loved ones will be placed and once the stonework is finished the whole structure will be covered in earth where wild flowers will grow, leaving just an entrance point.

Local craftsmen will be working on the project and will be using Purbeck Stone. 

Mrs Vassie said: “I am really looking forward to actually starting the construction of it and its completion and then being able to have it available for families. And the people who visit Higher Ground Meadow, they will obviously enjoy watching it being built.” 

She said the reason why they thought to build this structure was to cater for people who don’t know what to do with their loved one’s ashes once they are cremated.

Mrs Vassie added that people often keep the ashes hidden away under their stairs, or under their beds or in the cupboard and that therefore the round barrow would be able to provide a special place for people to put them.

She said: “By having this new facility, we hope families will embrace it as a beautiful, comforting and spiritual place for their loved ones to rest.”

The family are hoping to have the urns made by a local pottery company to make them extra special.

The round barrow is planned to have around 900 niches and people will be able to reserve them as they would for a burial ground. 

Mrs Vassie said the round barrow will take the best part of a year before it’s ready to be used.