March 1988

The Spurgeon Family Move In

Barry and Carole moved into Brickfields as their new family home in March 1988. The site was steeped in history having been a working brickyard for many years, making bricks and tiles that were used to build Winchfield Railway Station and Hospital amongst other buildings.

The site then became a prisoner of war camp where 40 Italians and Germans were held during WW2. During the war several huts were dotted around the grounds and the Kiln was used as a chapel; however when Barry & Carole moved to Brickfields only the Brick Kiln remained intact.

1989

Repointing of The Brick Kiln

Several months passed before Hampshire County Council approached them and advised them that the Brick Kiln located in their garden had become a grade 2 listed building and needed to be restored. The Kiln itself had been derelict for several years and was covered in ivy which was causing structural damage to it. The building was damp and in serious need of some TLC. The restoration took place in 1989 and took around 8 months. First the ivy was carefully removed then the Kiln was repointed using traditional methods of mortar and lime.

Hampshire County Council said it was a shame such a beautiful building was disused and suggested Barry & Carole could look at finding a use for the kiln as long as the structure remained unaltered.

1990

Barry’s Idea Followed a Shocking Discovery

Over the next few months Barry and Carole tried to think of different uses for the building. They then watched a TV programme on what happened to deceased pets when they were left at the vet. They were shocked to see family pets being taken out of chest freezers in bags and thrown into vans like rubbish alongside the clinical waste generated by the vets during the week. There was no respect or dignified handling of the bodies and what they saw really upset them as, over the years, they had left their own pets at the vet to be “looked after” without knowing what really happened.

At the time they had an elderly German Shepherd called Brutus and they decided that they would never leave him to be “processed” like the poor pets they saw in the TV programme. Barry, a fashion agent, felt so strongly about the subject that he investigated into starting his own pet crematorium. After extensive research of both human and pet crematoriums he approached the local planning department and explained his idea of starting an individual crematorium for family pets. He met with mixed reactions from some of the counsellors as it was an unknown service at the time however he gained their support and planning permission was subsequently granted.

1999

The Early Years

In the early days Dignity Pet Crematorium was run by Carole whilst Barry continued as a fashion agent to make ends meet. At the time, individual cremation of pets was not commonplace and most vets didn’t give customers a choice. Unless people asked for an individual cremation their pet would be sent for mass disposal (AKA communal cremation).

Gradually more vets in the local area gave clients a choice (mainly because of people that had found Dignity directly went back to their vet and asked why they weren’t given this more personal option!). By 1999 Dignity had outgrown its original facilities and so Barry & Carole demolished their garage and took the brave step to build a purpose built pet crematorium.

2000s

The Changing Face of Pet Cremation

As more people asked for individual cremations the disposal companies started promoting their ashes back services (a much more basic service than Dignity’s where pets would receive no special handling, would be collected with clinical waste and the owner would receive some ashes back a week or two later). They promoted this service to the vets as part of a “complete package” for the practice (I.E. they offered ashes back, communal cremation & removal of clinical waste).

In more recent years, with large disposal companies fighting for veterinary contracts, these companies began promoting their pet cremation services on the basis they could offer a very low cost price to the vet, who they then encouraged to uplift the cost by £100+ to make an easy and substantial profit from the pet owner for “arranging” their pet’s cremation.

This has led to most vets now contracting to the cheapest (and not necessarily the best) companies for pet cremation. Owners are rarely given a full description of the service on offer prior to being sold the cremation and most vets have never inspected the facility they use (and if they have they may not know what to look for to ensure the correct working procedures are in place to guarantee the pet cremation service is operated to an acceptable standard).

2012

Striving to be the Best

Throughout all these changes Dignity Pet Crematorium has remained dedicated to offering the best service possible for pet owners and vets that choose our more personal service, picking up various awards on the way including being rated as the top service in the UK by our customers via the Freeindex review site.

In 2012 we considerably improved the facilities and extended the original pet crematorium, created a Remembrance Walkway linking it to the Kiln and widened our gateway (amongst other things!). We feel our facilities now match our first class service and we will continue to devote ourselves to offering affordable individual pet cremation services to owners.

2022

Celebrating 30 Years of Helping Families

2022 marks 30 years since Dignity first opened its doors. With an ambition to create a more compassionate and caring way for pet owners to say farewell to their beloved pets, Dignity has been helping families since 1992. Kevin, Dignity Owner, said “In a nutshell, I am passionate about helping families. I believe this starts with transparency that leads to families being able to make an informed decision both leading up to and following the loss of their pet.

This has been our purpose since my parents started Dignity 30 years ago. I now have over 20 years’ experience and have seen many changes in both the veterinary industry and in pet cremation during that time. Developing and refining Dignity’s service over the years has been the key to our continued success and I am proud we have picked up several awards on the way. I have learned to listen more and challenge myself to be a better leader – bringing in a clear vision and values to focus us in the right direction.”

Site Developments

Our site has evolved over the years; however, the values have remained as we continue to offer a respectful, honest and personal service to each of our clients. We currently have a new Ashes Collection Building under construction which will enable families who have brought their pet to us to avoid going back into the same building they said goodbye to their pet in when collecting their ashes.

Our Dignity centrepiece of the stunning Grade 2 Victorian Brick Kiln is also currently undergoing a much-needed restoration due to movement and deterioration. Therefore, in the interests of safety and preservation repair works are underway to lovingly restore the kiln.

Please bear with us as we go through this change and note that the construction works will not be affecting our service to you but we want to keep you informed so you know what to expect. Our Garden of Remembrance is still open and looking beautiful.