West Berkshire Crematorium closes from Saturday 26 September and holds no services again until Tuesday 13 October, a 17-day gap for a chapel rebuild.

There will be no funeral services at West Berkshire Crematorium for 17 days at the end of this month. The crematorium, on Bath Road in Thatcham about four miles east of Newbury, closes from Saturday 26 September and does not hold services again until Tuesday 13 October.

The closure is for building work, not a fault. The chapel is being rebuilt and fitted with projection and audio equipment so that it can be run as what its owner, Westerleigh Group, calls a SuperVenue.

Anyone arranging a funeral for the second half of September or the first half of October is affected, and that is a decision usually made within days of a death.

What the operator has said

The announcement is on the crematorium’s own website, dated 18 July 2026. It is not on West Berkshire Council’s website, and it will not be: the crematorium is privately owned. Westerleigh Group runs 42 crematoria and cemeteries in England, Scotland and Wales.

The company says the chapel will be fitted with:

  • an external welcome screen showing the name and a photograph of the person whose funeral it is
  • a projection covering the whole of the chapel’s front wall, which it calls the canvas
  • coordinated lighting and soundscapes to match the chosen theme
  • a range of themes families can pick from, described as including landscapes, seasonal backgrounds and football stadiums

Liam Warne, the assistant crematorium manager, said the feedback from Westerleigh SuperVenues already open elsewhere “has been extremely positive”, and that the work would let families “create the most memorable tributes to their loved ones”. (West Berkshire Crematorium, 18 July 2026)

What is closing, and for how long

Counted from the operator’s own dates, the chapel is out of use on 17 consecutive days: 26 to 30 September, and 1 to 12 October. Services resume on Tuesday 13 October.

The building that closes is not a small one. The crematorium opened in 2006, sits in ten acres with more than 250 trees, and is built in Newbury red brick. Its chapel seats 96 with standing room for another 50, and has speakers outside for larger congregations. The operator describes it as the largest purpose-built crematorium chapel in the county. (West Berkshire Crematorium)

What it means for you

If you are arranging a funeral in that window, speak to your funeral director before fixing a date. They book the slot, and they will know which other crematoria have capacity. The crematorium’s own office is open Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm, on 01635 872 577.

If you are driving there, Bath Road is the A4 through Thatcham, and the roads around it are being worked on through the autumn. What is closed and when is on our Newbury roadworks and travel page.

If you visit a memorial or the gardens, the operator’s announcement is about the chapel and says nothing about the grounds. We could not confirm today whether the gardens of remembrance stay open during the work. The site’s normal grounds hours are 8am to 6pm on weekdays from April to October, and 10am to 5pm at weekends and on public holidays.

If you are walking the grounds now, a notice dated 26 August on the crematorium’s own site asks visitors to take extra care because the ground “may be holed, cracked and uneven” after the dry summer, and says staff will help anyone reaching a memorial.

What we could not confirm

The crematorium publishes a chapel service diary, but the link to it on its own site resolves to an error page, so we could not check the diary against the announcement. Every date and figure above comes from the operator’s own published pages. Nothing here is carried over from any other report.

West Berkshire Crematorium closure, 26 September to 13 October 2026 A bar showing September and October 2026. Services run normally until Friday 25 September. The chapel is closed for seventeen days, from Saturday 26 September to Monday 12 October inclusive. Services resume on Tuesday 13 October with the new projection and audio equipment in use. Seventeen days with no services at Thatcham West Berkshire Crematorium, Bath Road, Thatcham. Dates as published by the operator. Services as normal CHAPEL CLOSED 17 days Services resume Sat 26 Sep Tue 13 Oct to Fri 25 Sep with the new chapel What is being installed External welcome screen with the name and a photograph Projection across the whole front wall of the chapel Coordinated lighting and soundscapes, with a choice of themes Chapel seats 96, standing room for 50. Opened 2006. Ten acres, 250 trees. Source: West Berkshire Crematorium, announcement of 18 July 2026 and site information pages. Graphic by The Newbury Times
The chapel is out of use for 17 consecutive days, from 26 September to 12 October inclusive.

Sources