Oxford's £2.4m burial meadow near Horspath has its contractor. Work runs autumn 2026 to spring 2027, and the parish council's pollution objection still stands.

Oxford City Council has appointed a contractor to build the city’s new burial ground, and construction starts this autumn. Blakedown Landscapes will be principal contractor for the Oxford Burial Meadow, the council announced on 21 August. Work runs from autumn 2026 to spring 2027.

The site is not in Oxford. It is farmland north of Oxford Road near Horspath, about four miles east of Carfax, and it sits in South Oxfordshire district, which is why South Oxfordshire District Council decided the planning application rather than the city. The land itself is owned by Oxford City Council, and its burial team at Oxford Direct Services will run the meadow.

What is being built

The council describes the scheme as 17 acres, and the planning application describes 7.34 hectares changing use from agricultural land to a low impact, landscape led meadow burial space. It says the site is large enough for about 45 years of burials.

The application, reference P23/S3730/FUL, sets out what goes on the land:

  • a change of use of agricultural land to a meadow burial space of a “naturalistic character”
  • one new vehicle access to the site
  • a new footpath link from the existing council owned car park in front of the athletics track
  • a small open sided shelter, benches, signs and hard access ways
  • headstones limited to 80cm in height, in non glossy stone or hardwood
  • access for hearses and maintenance vehicles, and on site priority parking

The council’s own description adds new trees, wildflower meadow and paths linking to Shotover Woods.

How it got here

Oxford has four council cemeteries: Botley, Headington, Rose Hill and Wolvercote. The council says the burial meadow is needed to give the city “a sustainable supply of new burial space”.

Oxford Burial Meadow: key dates Timeline of the Oxford Burial Meadow project. July 2023: public consultation, 91 per cent of respondents in favour. September 2023: city council cabinet approves the scheme and a 2.4 million pound capital budget. November 2024: officer decision takes back part of the athletics club tenancy to allow the access path. October 2025: Horspath Parish Council maintains its objection. April 2026: South Oxfordshire District Council grants planning permission. August 2026: Blakedown Landscapes appointed principal contractor. Autumn 2026 to spring 2027: construction. Oxford Burial Meadow: three years from consultation to spade Source: Oxford City Council cabinet and officer decision records; Horspath Parish Council minutes; council news releases. July 2023 Consultation: 91% of respondents in favour 13 September 2023 Cabinet approves the scheme and a £2.4m capital budget 28 November 2024 Part of the athletics club tenancy surrendered for the access path 7 October 2025 Horspath Parish Council maintains its objection on groundwater April 2026 South Oxfordshire District Council grants planning permission 21 August 2026 Blakedown Landscapes appointed; build autumn 2026 to spring 2027 Graphic by The Oxford Post
The project has run for three years between consultation and construction.

The city council consulted on the plan in July 2023. Its consultation record shows 439 people responded online, 11 at a drop in at Horspath Village Hall and 4 at Oxford Town Hall, and that 91% were in favour.

Cabinet approved the scheme on 13 September 2023, recommending a capital budget of £2.4m and authorising the planning application to South Oxfordshire, according to the council’s own decision record.

A quieter step came in November 2024. To create the footpath from the car park, the council needed the land back from Oxford City Athletic Club CIC, and a deputy chief executive’s decision on 28 November 2024 accepted a partial surrender of the club’s tenancy. The council took that step before planning permission was determined.

Permission followed in April 2026.

The parish council still objects

Horspath Parish Council opposed the scheme throughout, and its objection is not about the principle of a burial ground. It is about water.

Its minutes of 7 October 2025 record that the parish council “maintains its objection to this proposed development of the site as a meadow burial ground for human remains on the basis that rain will inevitably enter the graves in this site which is subject to frequent surface flooding, and water polluted by pathogens from the graves will travel through the revised drainage system of swales and pipes to eventually discharge into the catchment of Northfield Brook, and lead to the unacceptable pollution of the groundwater.”

The minutes add: “For the Council, this is a public health concern as much as an environmental one.”

The applicant had by then submitted an updated flood risk assessment and groundwater monitoring documents, in a cover letter dated 4 July 2025, with amended plans received on 18 September 2025. The parish council said it did not need to comment on that amendment but was not withdrawing the objection.

South Oxfordshire District Council granted permission anyway. We were not able to read the decision notice or its conditions today: the district’s online register at southoxfordshire.planning-register.co.uk puts application searches behind a security check that cannot be completed automatically, so we cannot yet say what conditions were imposed on drainage, and we are not going to guess at them.

Announcing the contractor, Councillor Anna Railton, cabinet member for planning and zero carbon Oxford, said the scheme “has been carefully designed to not only meet an essential need, but also enhance biodiversity”.

What it means for you

  • If you are arranging a burial now, nothing changes yet. The meadow is not due to be finished until spring 2027, and the council’s four existing cemeteries remain the route. Burial enquiries go to the council’s cemeteries team on 01865 252516.
  • If you live in Horspath or use the sports ground, expect construction traffic on Oxford Road from the autumn, and a new vehicle access plus a footpath off the car park by the athletics track.
  • If you walk on Shotover, the finished meadow is meant to be publicly accessible green space with paths linking to Shotover Woods, not a fenced cemetery.
  • If you want to follow the planning detail, the reference is P23/S3730/FUL at South Oxfordshire District Council. City applications are on our Oxford planning news page.