Town of Bow, Code Enforcement Office
10 Grandview Road, Bow, NH 03304

Monday-Friday 7:30 AM - 4:00 PM
Phone: (603) 228-1189 ~ Fax: (603) 225-2982 ~ Click here for contact form

PUBLIC CEMETERIES:

1. Alexander Cemetery (River Road) - plots available
2. Evans Cemetery (White Rock Hill Road) - Plots available.
3. Green Cemetery (Baptist Church, Bow Center) - All plots are sold

PRIVATE CEMETERIES:
(maintained by Town but no plots sold by Town):

1. Goodhue Cemetery
2. Hadley Cemetery
3. Hammond Cemetery
4. Heath Cemetery
5. Nichols Cemetery (aka East Dunbarton Cemetery)
6. Ordway Cemetery
7. Private Cemetery - Brown Hill Road
8. Private Cemetery (one grave) - Brown Hill Road.

Adopted by the Cemetery Trustees on August 2008.

Cemetery Sexton is an additional duty of the Building Inspector. The Building Inspector is located in the Building Department on the lower level of the Municipal Office Building

Cemetery Rules & Regulation

Effective Date: October 9, 2002

1. Purpose. To establish rules and regulations for the purchase of cemetery plots, interment of the deceased and maintenance of the facilities and grounds.

2. References. RSA 289, RSA 290

3. Cemetery Administration.

• The Board of Selectmen are the cemetery Trustees.
• Determinations of the Cemetery Sexton may be appealed to the Board of the Selectmen.
• The Trustees shall appoint a Cemetery Sexton, who shall report to the Town Manager for operational control. The Cemetery Sexton shall be responsible for the maintenance of cemeteries and enforcement of these rules and regulations, and maintain burial records for each cemetery.

A. Activities:

1. The cemeteries will be open to visitors at sunrise and will be closed at sunset. Visitors will not be allowed upon the grounds during the hours of darkness except by the special permission of the Cemetery Sexton.
2. Cemetery roadways are not normally snow plowed.
3. No vehicle shall be operated in any part of the cemeteries except upon the paved or otherwise marked roads and at speeds of not more than 5 miles per hour. All funeral processions, while within the grounds, will be subject to the direction of the Cemetery Sexton.
4. Only persons with cemetery business are permitted on the cemetery grounds. No horse, dogs or other pets are allowed on the grounds unless they are a part of a ceremony.
5. No person shall gather flowers, either wild or cultivated, on the premises, or remove, cut, break, or mark any tree, shrub, or plant other than as part of maintenance; or mark upon, deface or injure any monument or any other structure on the grounds.
6. Firearms shall not be discharged in the cemeteries, except for salutes at military funerals, Memorial ceremonies, or by special permission of the Cemetery Sexton.
7. Any person disturbing the quiet or good order of the grounds by acts of, but not limited to, intoxication, loud noise, speeding, or disorderly contact, and any person who violates any of the rules, will be expelled from the grounds by the Cemetery Sexton.
8. All headstones, monuments, permanent markers or other structure permitted to be erected in the cemeteries must have a good sufficient foundation. Stone benches may be placed in lieu of a headstone or footstone, but must be in line with other monuments and be on a firm foundation that is flush with the ground and extends far enough from the base of the bench to facilitate mowing without requiring edging.

B. Plantings :

1. Shrubs may only be planted on any grave site if the species of plant and the precise location has been approved by the Cemetery Sexton. Trees may not be planted on grave site, but may be planted on the cemetery grounds if approved by the Cemetery Sexton. Small memorial signs may be emplaced with any such tree.
2. Annual flowers may only be planted within one foot of the memorial headstone and footstone.
3. Perennial Flowers planted without the approval of the Cemetery Sexton will be removed if considered unsightly when not in bloom.
4. If any plant becomes detrimental to a plot, grave, or to the cemetery because of branches, roots or otherwise, or is dangerous, the Cemetery Sexton shall have both the duty and the right to remove any and all parts thereof. Loose items, dead plants or flowers, or any other item considered to be unsightly or hazardous to mowers and trimmers will be removed during routine maintenance by the Cemetery Sexton or other employees as directed by the Sexton.
5. Bark mulch is not permitted. No fence shall be placed around the perimeter of any plot. Perimeter markers shall be flush with the earth so that a mower can clear them without adjustment.

C. Decorations and Maintenance:

1. Cut flowers shall be in containers at least eight inches high and be placed only within one foot of the memorial headstone or directly on a footstone. The placing of artificial flowers, signs, or glass containers on graves is not permitted. Plants must be watered and maintained in a fresh state by those who placed them.
2. Memorial items, such as small statuettes, coins, toys, small stones, or other keepsakes maybe placed on top of a headstone or monument or within stone, plastic, or concrete pots or planters. These must be emplaced within the same restricted area as cut flowers (see 1 above). Small stones placed in observance of religious custom may be placed on top of a memorial headstone. Perpetual flame holders or plants on wire hangers must be anchored at the base of the monument.
3. All work done in the Cemetery by plot owners, their aides or employees will be subject to supervision by the Cemetery Sexton.
4. All rubbish and waste resulting from this will work will be removed by owners, their aides, or employees.
5. If, as the result of work done, the good appearance of the cemetery is adversely affected in the opinion of the Cemetery Sexton or the Board of Selectmen, the Sexton may put such plots in order at the expense of the owners.
6. The Cemetery Sexton shall have the authority to prune or remove any vegetation that is encroaching upon an adjacent site and to bill the cost of such work to the current owner of the encroaching site.
7. The placing of small flags or other veteran markers on graves is allowed, with the understanding that the groundskeepers have the right to remove them at a later date, if necessary.
8. Christmas wreaths and other wintertime decorations may only be placed on or immediately in front of the memorial headstone or footstone. All such wintertime decorations will be removed by the Cemetery Sexton on or after March 1 of each year.
9. Flowers placed on a grave during the burial service shall be removed after one week, except for flowers meeting the location criteria of paragraph 1. Flowers not removed after one week shall be removed the Cemetery Sexton and/or the grounds keeping staff.

D. Internments :

1. The cemeteries are closed to internment from November 1 to April 15th of each year unless the weather justifies an adjustment of the schedule.
2. Only human remains shall be interred in any Town cemetery, whether cremated or otherwise. Erection of any memorial structure must be approved by the Cemetery Sexton.
3. Before any interment, the Cemetery Sexton shall be furnished with a permit, such as may be required by the ordinances of the Town of Bow or by the laws of the State of New Hampshire, together with an order from the legal owner, or the legal representative, of the right of burial in the plot in which interment is to be made. A grave shall only be opened for interment or removal by a person in the employ of the Town of Bow under direction of the Cemetery Sexton.
4. All interments shall be enclosed in a cement vault except infants for whom a fiberglass container thirty (30) inches or less in length may be used. Cremations shall require an urn or other approved container. The container provided by crematoriums is an approved container.

E. Cemetery Plots :

1. The Cemetery Trustees shall approve a cemetery master plan designating the order on which cemetery plots may be sold, any family plots and plots of single graves, as the Cemetery Trustees determine to be appropriate.
2. The Cemetery Sexton shall maintain a current map showing all cemetery plots that are available for purchase in accordance with the cemetery master plan and a current schedule of fees.
3. The Town of Bow offers family plots (blocks of two, four, and six contiguous grave sites) and single grave sites.
4. The breaking up of surveyed plots shall not be permitted.
5. Plots that are designated for the interment of cremains only, if there are plots so designated, shall be sold subject to availability. Such plots shall be designated in areas that are unsuitable for full grave sites. One small upright marker shall be allowed on such sites.
6. Up to four cremains may be interred in a regular burial plot either in addition to one full body burial or instead of one. For the first interment, the plot must be purchased at the full body rate.
7. The owners of rights of burial, or their heirs, shall not grant, sell, alienate, or convey, the said exclusive right of burial, to any person or persons, without having first obtained the written approval and consent of the Cemetery Trustees. The Town of Bow shall have the right to repurchase a plot that is not to be used as a grave for the same price for which it was purchased. This shall be a restriction on all deeds.

F. Cemetery Fees and Charges:

1. Cemetery plots may be purchased by residents and non-residents whenever plots are available.
2. Residents are entitled to purchase plots at the resident rate. Former residents who provide proof that they had been a legal resident of Bow may purchase cemetery plots at the resident rate and pay the resident service fees.
3. Overtime rates will be charged on holidays, Saturdays, Sundays, and after 3:00 PM., Monday through Friday.

Cemetery Plot Fees:

Cemetery Plot Service Fees:

G. Perpetual Care:

1. The Cemetery Trustees shall be the agents for the managing, investing and expending from perpetual care trust funds.
2. The Town will provide grounds care in perpetuity for all grave sites in all public cemeteries. The cost of perpetual care is included in the purchase price of burial plots. Perpetual care includes the seeding and fertilization of grass, the cutting of grass upon the plots, the raking and cleaning of the plots, and occasional pruning and trimming of ornamental vegetation. Maintenance and repair of headstones or other monuments is the responsibility of the plot owner. The Town of Bow will only be responsible for repairing monuments damaged by employees of the Town.
3. In private cemeteries the Town will rake fallen leaves, remove fallen branches and other debris, and trim vegetation once every year.
4. An individual perpetual care trust fund will be established in the name of each cemetery plot owner. Each trust will be established by deposit of 50% of the purchase price of each cemetery plot, and shall be an expendable trust fund.
5. If approved by Town meeting 2003, perpetual care will be partially funded by income generated from the interest earned by the Cemeteries Perpetual Care Trust Fund. This trust fund will be established by closing the many existing individual perpetual care trust funds, consolidating the balance from each of those funds into the new fund, and the new fund will also receive 50% of the purchase price of all burial plots sold after adoption of these regulations.