Church of England Parochial Fees 2026

The 2026 Statutory Fees

Parochial fees are statutory fees prescribed under the Church of England's ecclesiastical fees framework and published in the annual fees table. They are not negotiable — every parish in England charges the same rates. The 2026 fees took effect on 1 January.

Each fee splits into two parts: the Diocesan Board of Finance (DBF) element, which goes to the diocese, and the Parochial Church Council (PCC) element, which stays with the local church.

Funeral service in church (preceding or following burial or cremation): £244 total (£132 DBF + £112 PCC).

Burial of body in churchyard immediately after a church service: £390 total (£19 DBF + £371 PCC).

Burial of body in churchyard on a separate occasion or without a church service: £425 total (£54 DBF + £371 PCC).

Cremation immediately after a church service: £37 total (£37 DBF + £0 PCC).

Burial of cremated remains in churchyard immediately after a church service: £171 total (£19 DBF + £152 PCC).

Burial of cremated remains in churchyard on a separate occasion: £206 total (£54 DBF + £152 PCC).

Funeral service at a crematorium or cemetery (not preceded by a church service): £244 total (£207 DBF + £37 PCC).

Funeral service on funeral director's premises: £244 total (£244 DBF + £0 PCC).

No parochial fees are payable for the funeral or burial of a stillborn infant or any child who died under eighteen.

What the Fees Do and Do Not Cover

The statutory fees cover the minister's services, the use of the church building for the funeral, and prescribed churchyard administration and maintenance elements. They do not by themselves confer a right of burial, and they do not cover:

• Organist: £60–£150, set by the PCC
• Choir: negotiated locally, often £80–£200
• Bell-ringers (half-muffled peal): £80–£200 depending on the number of ringers
• Verger: £30–£70, not all parishes charge this
• Heating: some parishes add a heating surcharge in winter, typically £20–£50
• Church flowers: separate from the family's own floral tributes

These extras are "allowable" PCC charges — legal, but not standardised. They vary between parishes, sometimes dramatically. Ask the parish office for a written schedule of local charges before the funeral, and compare it against the funeral director's disbursement list.

The Vicar's Fee: Who Gets Paid What

The minister conducting the funeral does not personally receive the parochial fee. Stipendiary clergy (those on a church salary) are paid by the diocese regardless of how many funerals they take. The parochial fee reimburses the institutional costs of providing the service.

Retired or self-supporting clergy who officiate funerals may receive an apportionment of the DBF element under local diocesan arrangements. The 2026 national quick-reference table lists £88 for a funeral service in church and £138 for a funeral service at a crematorium or cemetery. Many dioceses also reimburse travel expenses from the PCC element for church and churchyard services. For funerals held at a crematorium where there is a PCC element (reintroduced in 2025 for direct-to-crematorium services), retired clergy can now claim travel from the relevant PCC.

This matters because families sometimes worry they are imposing on a retired minister by asking them to take the service. The fee structure is designed to compensate them — you are not asking for a favour.

How to Check Your Invoice

The funeral director collects parochial fees as disbursements and passes them to the church. On your invoice, these should appear as separate line items at exactly the statutory rates listed above. If the funeral director's total for "church fees" is higher than the statutory fee plus the listed PCC extras, ask for a breakdown.

A common source of confusion: the funeral director may list "minister's fee" as a separate charge from "church fee." In a CofE funeral, the minister's fee is part of the statutory parochial fee — there should not be an additional charge on top unless the family has separately engaged a non-parish minister who charges independently.

Comparing Church vs Crematorium Costs

A church funeral followed by churchyard burial costs £244 (church service) + £390 (burial) = £634 in parochial fees, plus whatever local PCC extras apply.

A direct-to-crematorium service costs £244 in parochial fees, plus the crematorium's own fee (£800–£1,200 depending on the facility and time slot).

The church route is often cheaper in total, especially if the deceased has the right of burial in the parish churchyard — you avoid the crematorium fee entirely. The trade-off is that churchyard space is finite, and some urban parishes have closed their churchyards to new burials.

Our Protestant Funeral UK guide includes a printable fee comparison worksheet and a clergy-venue fee tracker so you can lay every cost side by side before committing to a funeral director's quote.