Babworth Crematorium: what families need to know

Babworth Crematorium stands on Straight Mile, Babworth, in the countryside just west of Retford, in the Bassetlaw district of north Nottinghamshire. Its postcode is DN22 8FJ. It is run by Westerleigh Group, which operates crematoria across the UK, and it follows the Federation of Burial and Cremation Authorities’ Code of Cremation Practice. In an inspection reported in April 2026 the FBCA graded it Outstanding.

If you have been told that a cremation will take place at Babworth, this is what the family needs to know.

Where it is, and how far

The crematorium is reached easily from the A1 and the M1, and it serves Bassetlaw and the neighbouring part of South Yorkshire. From Worksop it is about eight miles by road, from Newark about seventeen, from Mansfield about twenty and from Nottingham about thirty-two. From Doncaster it is about fifteen miles south, by the A638 through Bawtry. There are about 90 free parking spaces, with more in the grounds when needed, disabled parking, ramps, a hearing loop and accessible toilets.

The chapel

There is one chapel, finished in oak, with tall windows onto the fields. It seats about 100 people, with standing room for as many again and speakers in the lobby and outside for a large gathering. A standard daytime service has the chapel for 60 minutes, about 40 of them for the service, and there are shorter early and late slots. The chapel has an organ, a digital music system, and can stream or record a service for relatives who cannot travel.

A cremation with no service

Babworth takes unattended cremations, and publishes how they run. The funeral director arrives at the agreed time, with no mourners. The coffin is carried into the chapel through the main doors and placed on the catafalque, a piece of music can be played as it comes in, and the curtains close. Every coffin is cremated separately, exactly as it arrives, within 24 hours. This is what a direct cremation at Babworth is.

A family who would like to see their loved one first does so at the funeral director’s chapel of rest beforehand. What that visit is like is in visiting a chapel of rest.

The ashes

The ashes are usually ready the day after the cremation. They can be collected by the funeral director or by the person who applied for the cremation; another relative needs that person’s written permission. From there the choices are:

• Taking them home, or anywhere the family decides.
• Scattering in the crematorium’s woodland area or memorial lawn, which is free when the cremation took place there. The family can be present or not.
• A memorial in the grounds, such as a plaque, a tree, a bench or a small grave for the ashes.

If you have not decided, the crematorium will keep the ashes for up to six months. If it has no instructions at all, it scatters them in the gardens after three months. How long a cremation takes, and when you get the ashes covers the timing in more detail.

The grounds

The building was designed to sit low in the landscape, in red brick with picture windows, and the grounds have landscaped memorial gardens, a woodland area, a memorial lawn and a sheltered flower terrace where floral tributes stay for at least three days. Babworth was the first crematorium in the UK fitted with equipment that cuts nitrogen oxide emissions, and metals left after cremation are recycled, with the money going to bereavement charities.

Visiting

The gardens are open from 9am to 6pm from April to September, from 9am to 5pm from October to March, and from 10am to 4pm at weekends and on public holidays. The office is open Monday to Friday from 9am to 5pm, and the staff will show a family around the grounds by appointment.

A direct cremation there with us

For every family in Nottinghamshire and Doncaster, our direct cremation takes place at Babworth. We collect your loved one from home, hospital, hospice or care home anywhere in those areas, care for them until the day, complete every form, and bring the ashes back to you. Babworth’s own fee is part of the £1,295, and direct cremation step by step sets out what happens between the first call and the ashes.