Circle CemeteryOne of America's First Green Cemeteries Circle Cemetery, established in 1995, is one of the first Green cemeteries to be established in the United States and the first Green cemetery to be established on a Nature Preserve in Wisconsin. As with other Green cemeteries, Circle Cemetery combines preservation of Green space with burial of cremains and non-embalmed bodies. Located just north of Barneveld, Wisconsin, Circle Cemetery is 20 acres in size and includes woodlands, a restored prairie, and a forested ridgetop. The cemetery is part of the 200-acre Circle Sanctuary Nature Preserve, owned and operated since 1983 by Circle Sanctuary. Circle Cemetery is the final resting place for remains of Pagan practitioners of a variety of forms of Nature religion, plus those of other faiths and philosophies that honor Nature in a sacred way. The Cemetery is operated by Circle Sanctuary, an international non-profit Nature Spirituality resource center and church. Recumbent granite markers with names, dates, and memorial messages are options for marking gravesites in some of the wooded areas of the cemetery. For natural burials, a body needs to be unembalmed and in a shroud, pine box, wicker casket, or other biodegradable container. Cremains can be scattered or interred in the woodlands of the cemetery, and can be scattered in the restored prairie.
Circle Cemetery has several outdoor areas for memorial services and funerals, including a microlithic Stone Circle in an Oak grove atop a naturally occurring mound. Circle Cemetery is open to visitors at a variety of events throughout the year, and at other times by advance arrangement. For more information and to make arrangements for cremains placement, body burials, and memorial markers, please contact: Selena Fox, Circle Cemetery Director |
