Local authority funeral prices
Funeral costs in Dorset
Funeral Cost Index covers 39 funeral directors in Dorset, with 25 published CMA Standardised Price Lists (64% coverage). The median direct cremation across the council area costs £2,050; the median attended funeral director's charges run £3,040. The median unattended burial — the funeral director’s own charge, before the council’s interment fee — is £1,575 across 15 published price lists. Providers are assigned to the local authority using their postcode’s official administrative district code, not a radius around a town centre.
Build an itemised estimate for Dorset — funeral director charges plus the local cremation or burial fees — with the funeral cost calculator, already set to this area.
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Cite this data
Suggested citation: Funeral Cost Index, “Funeral costs in Dorset”, based on published CMA Standardised Price Lists, most recent capture 5 October 2026.
Suggested link text: Compare funeral costs in Dorset.
How we keep this trustworthy
Source
Council-area figures are calculated by matching funeral directors to official local authority districts, then summarising captured CMA Standardised Price Lists.
Freshness
Most recent price list captured 5 October 2026. Based on 25 captured price lists from 39 indexed funeral directors in Dorset.
Accountability
We do not arrange funerals, sell paid rankings, or accept commission for placement. Corrections are reviewed against the provider’s public price list.
Primary sources
Prices can change and packages differ. Always confirm the current price, what is included, availability, and any third-party costs directly with the funeral director before deciding.
Publisher credentials
Funeral Cost Index is published by Peter Langdon FCA through Indexeli Intelligence Limited. Peter is listed in ICAEW’s Find a Chartered Accountant directory, and the project applies an accountancy-led approach to public-interest price transparency, source evidence, correction handling, and clear separation between captured prices and estimates.
View Peter Langdon’s ICAEW directory profile · ICAEW does not endorse, verify, or operate Funeral Cost Index.
- Median direct cremation
- £2,050
- Median attended funeral
- £3,040
- Funeral directors indexed
- 39
- Published-price coverage
- 64%
19 published prices
25 published prices
Most recent capture 5 October 2026
Provider price range entries
Captured published prices in Dorset
These are not recommendations or quality rankings. They are provider-level published prices captured from local funeral directors’ own price lists for each service, shown to support cost filtering.
Direct cremation
£1,240
Co-op FuneralcareRange entry from 19 captured local prices. Price list captured 16 September 2026.
Attended funeral
£2,692
A E Jolliffe and SonRange entry from 25 captured local prices. Price list captured 16 September 2026.
Using this page professionally?
Funeral Cost Index is independent. We do not arrange funerals and we do not take payment from funeral directors. The figures on this page are free to cite and free to link to with attribution.
Council or advice service
Link to this page from bereavement, cost-of-living, or “what to do when someone dies” guidance for Dorset residents. We can send a short note for your website team.
Suggested link text
Compare funeral director prices in Dorset
URL
https://www.funeralcostindex.co.uk/councils/dorset
Journalist or researcher
Quote the stats on this page with attribution to Funeral Cost Index. On request we can send provider-level price extracts, chain-vs-independent comparisons, and the same data for neighbouring councils.
Suggested citation: Funeral Cost Index, “Funeral costs in Dorset”, retrieved 5 October 2026.
Funeral director
Something on your record needs updating? We refresh from your own published Standardised Price List on request and re-check the source URL.
Submit a correctionFuneral directors with published prices in Dorset
| Provider | Direct cremation | Attended funeral | Captured |
|---|---|---|---|
| Co-op Funeralcare | £1,240 | £3,265 | 16 September 2026 |
| Co-op Funeralcare | £1,240 | £3,265 | 16 September 2026 |
| Co-op Funeralcare (The Lawns) | £1,240 | £3,265 | 16 September 2026 |
| The Co-operative Funeralcare - Gillingham | £1,240 | £3,265 | 16 September 2026 |
| The Co-operative Funeralcare - Shaftesbury | £1,240 | £3,265 | 16 September 2026 |
| Bracher Brothers Ltd | £1,645 | £2,995 | 5 October 2026 |
| Gillingham Funeral Directors | £1,645 | £2,995 | 5 October 2026 |
| Bracher Brothers Ltd | £1,745 | £2,895 | 2 May 2026 |
| Sherborne Funeral Directors | £1,945 | £2,995 | 5 October 2026 |
| Nicholas O'Hara Funeral Directors | £2,050 | £3,545 | 16 September 2026 |
| Nicholas O'Hara Funeral Directors | £2,050 | £3,545 | 16 September 2026 |
| A. G. Down Funeral Directors | £2,055 | £3,073 | 16 September 2026 |
| A J Wakely & Sons Ltd | £2,150 | £3,040 | 16 September 2026 |
| A J Wakely & Sons Ltd - Bridport | £2,150 | £3,040 | 16 September 2026 |
| A J Wakely & Sons Ltd - Lyme Regis | £2,150 | £3,040 | 16 September 2026 |
| A J Wakely & Sons Ltd - Sherborne | £2,150 | £3,040 | 16 September 2026 |
| A J Wakely and Sons Ltd | £2,150 | £3,040 | 16 September 2026 |
| Cotton & Sons Ltd | £2,150 | £3,040 | 16 September 2026 |
| Matthew Lucas Funeral Directors | £2,175 | £3,073 | 16 September 2026 |
| A E Jolliffe and Son | Not enough data | £2,692 | 16 September 2026 |
| Albert Marsh | Not enough data | £2,692 | 16 September 2026 |
| Cotton and Son Ltd | Not enough data | £2,830 | 16 September 2026 |
| James Smith | Not enough data | £2,692 | 16 September 2026 |
| Lesley Shand Funeral Service | Not enough data | £2,692 | 16 September 2026 |
| Lesley Shand Funeral Service | Not enough data | £2,692 | 16 September 2026 |
Crematoria serving Dorset
Crematoria near the Dorset area, with the operator-set cremation fee where captured. This fee is a third-party disbursement paid to the crematorium operator, separate from the funeral director’s charges above.
Frequently asked questions
How much does a funeral cost in Dorset?
The median attended funeral director's charges in the Dorset council area are £3,040, based on 25 published CMA Standardised Price Lists captured up to October 2026. Third-party fees are paid separately. For a cremation, the nearest crematorium with a captured fee, Poole Crematorium (14.7 miles away), charges £831 for a standard attended cremation, captured July 2026 from the operator's published fee list. A burial instead adds a median new grave of £1,229 plus a median adult interment fee of £1,097 (resident rate where published), from the published fee schedules of 56 burial authorities, mainly in Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and northern England; no London authorities captured yet (captured by Funeral Cost Index in June 2026). Doctors' and minister or celebrant fees are extra.
How much is a direct cremation in Dorset?
The median direct cremation in the Dorset council area is £2,050 (all-in, including the cremation fee), based on 19 published price lists (last captured October 2026). Source: each provider's CMA Standardised Price List, indexed by Funeral Cost Index.
How much does a burial cost in Dorset?
The median unattended burial in the Dorset council area is £1,575 for the funeral director's own charges, based on 15 published CMA Standardised Price Lists captured up to October 2026. The council's interment fee and the exclusive right of burial are charged separately on top, and differ sharply between residents and non-residents of the council area. Source: each provider's published CMA Standardised Price List, indexed by Funeral Cost Index.
How many funeral directors are listed for Dorset?
Funeral Cost Index indexes 39 funeral directors assigned to the Dorset local authority by postcode. 25 (64%) currently publish a CMA Standardised Price List that we've captured.
Which funeral director in Dorset publishes the lowest direct cremation price?
Co-op Funeralcare publishes the lowest direct cremation in the Dorset council area at £1,240, captured from their CMA Standardised Price List on 16 September 2026. Price is one factor - Funeral Cost Index does not rank by quality or recommend any specific provider.
Where can I download Dorset funeral price data?
Funeral Cost Index publishes a per-council CSV of captured prices for Dorset at /councils/dorset/funeral-costs.csv. The CSV is free for public-interest use; suggested citation is "Funeral Cost Index, Funeral costs in Dorset, based on published CMA Standardised Price Lists, most recent capture October 2026".
How are funeral directors assigned to a council area?
Funeral directors are assigned to a local authority by their registered postcode's official administrative district code (ONS PCD), not by a radius around a town centre. This means every provider is counted in exactly one council area, matching how local authorities themselves report population and statistics.
What is a CMA Standardised Price List?
Under the CMA Funerals Market Investigation Order 2021, every funeral director in the UK must publish a Standardised Price List showing the price of an attended funeral and, where offered, a direct (unattended) cremation, with a breakdown of the funeral director's professional fees, transport, care of the deceased, coffin, and third-party disbursement charges. Because the format is fixed by the CMA, like-for-like comparison is reliable for the first time.
How this page is calculated
Funeral directors are matched to Dorset using their postcode’s official local authority district code, then prices are taken from the latest captured CMA Standardised Price List for each provider. Medians are only shown where there are at least three valid prices for that service.
These figures usually cover funeral director charges only. Third-party costs such as crematorium fees, burial plots, celebrants and cemetery charges are not included; captured crematorium fees are shown above with their source and capture month.