'Britain's best' crematorium wins plaudits in new book.

Byline: By Lisa Jones South Wales Echo 

When it comes to shuffling off this mortal coil your send-off is important for the people you leave behind - and a South Wales crematorium has been praised for the way it does it.

Coychurch Crematorium, near Bridgend, has been described in a new book as 'arguably the most exceptional in Great Britain'.

The publication, called Death Redesigned, looks at all of the UK's 251 crematoria and features a picture of the Coychurch facility on the front cover.

Its author, Professor Hilary Grainger, looked at the crematorium's history, architecture and landscape, which she said helped comfort and console the bereaved.

Joanna Hamilton, superintendent and registrar there for eight years, said the building was designed by architect Maxwell Fry, built using local reclaimed stone and opened in 1970.

It is apparently designed on the ideas of famous French architect Le Corbusier.

'It's a beautifully maintained building in a beautiful setting,' she said.

'The whole idea is to add to the ceremony, making grief far less casual.'

The crematorium, which is in 29 acres of land, conducts an average of 1,800 services a year at a cost of pounds 288, with no out-of-area surcharge.

Ms Hamilton said the architect became an expert on designing crematoria as a result of going to his own mother's funeral, which left him feeling cheated emotionally.

He published a paper of ideas and was contacted by the committee behind Coychurch to design theirs.

'Most people believe the ceremony starts the moment the funeral cars enter the grounds,' she added.

'There's a mass of trees planted to delay the view of the road.

'The trees part and you get a glimpse of the building reflected in the lake.

'There's stained glass throughout the building, which is breathtaking in proportion.'