Module 09 - Churchyard conservation

• David Manning: The Living Churchyard 2003
• N Cooper: Wildlife in Church & Churchyard: plants, animals & their management (2nd Edition Published by CHP 2001
• Anthony Foottit: A Gospel of wild Flowers Published by David & Charles  2006

Contact your local group - they may be able to offer advice and/or help in managing your churchyard for conservation and biodiversity. Alternatively, or in addition, perhaps your church could offer volunteers regularly on other BTCV projects. You could link active management of your churchyard with health, and join the 'green gym' initiative of BTCV. 

You could join BTCV's community network which gives you access to all sorts of benefits for a joining fee.

Take a look at the Caring for God's Acre (CFGA) site as there's lots of useful information on there to help with managing churchyards.

Try involving your local heritage interest groups, such as those interested in family history (if you have gravestones), or the local natural history people to help with managing for biodiversity. Churchyards can be significant in terms of the local Biodiversity Action Plan (BAP). Someone (probably in your local council) will have responsibility for the BAP and may help you to monitor what is happening in terms of wildlife, and how it could be better managed.

Have you thought about a community composting enterprise? You'll need to talk to the Community Composting Network based in Sheffield:

CCN, 67 Alexandra Road, Sheffield, S2 3EE

t. 0114 258 0483 or 0114 255 3720

The Dry Stone Walling Association has produced some helpful information about dry stone walls around churchyards. See the links below.

The British Lichen Society (BLS) answers the question what are lichens? and has a fact sheet about lichens and churchyards.

Do you have some glebe land which could be usefully used by local people as allotments?  St Barnabas in Queen Camel, Somerset did just that! Are you wanting to get involved with taking care of a piece of local land currently in need of attention? The National Society of Allotments and Leisure Gardeners Limited will provide information and guidance for running allotments and local allotment societies.

Or you could try FarmGarden, the Federation of City Farms and Community Gardens who specialise in community allotments. Or perhaps your church could stimulate the renewal of some local allotments under the Allotments Regeneration Initiative. 

Landshare is an online community that connects people and organisations with spare land to those who need land for growing. Churches can set up their own group on the website through which to share any land they have available and communicate with growers and helps. There are also case studies and pro forma legal documents and advice to help landowners and growers arrange their Landshare agreement, or you can discuss issues of sustainable food, and tips for good compost with the community of Landsharers.

Go to the Natural History Museum site to find your local native wild flowers - it's called the postcode plants database. Just put in your postcode!

Do you have an urban church? Could you plant some trees, and need advice and help? Maybe Trees for Cities could help you! Contact them on 020 7587 1320 to see if they can help in your area. They are working mostly in London, but not exclusively.

Have a look at this excellent site with helpful section of guidance notes for those with responsibility for the churchyard. 

Your local Wildlife Trust may have some support for those managing churchyards. Have a look at the national site to find your local Wildlife Trust.

Have a look at the Cornwall Living Churchyard site to see what has been happening in the South West, and to read their management principles for churchyards.

The primary vision of The Quiet Garden Movement is to initiate and resource a network of local opportunities for prayer, silence, reflection and the appreciation of beauty; for learning about Christian spirituality; and for experiencing creativity and healing in the context of God's love.

It fosters the provision of quiet spaces, small and large, creating sanctuaries of stillness and refreshment.

Could your churchyard be a quiet space in your locality?

Contact the Quiet Garden Trust for more help and information.

Community Spaces is a £50 million open grants programme that is managed by Groundwork UK as an Award Partner to the Big Lottery Fund.

The programme helps community groups create or improve green and open spaces so that the quality of life in neighbourhoods across England is enhanced. Grants start at £10,000, further information about the programme and who can apply can be found at http://www.community-spaces.org.uk/default.aspx?page=10.

Application forms, guidance notes and further information about the application process can be found at http://www.community-spaces.org.uk/Apply .

Practical guidelines produced by St Albans Diocese for how to go about conservation managent of churchyards. Full of advice on legal requirements, sources of help and advice. If you would like a copy please email me using the contact form.

Churchyards are often a very special opportunity for all sorts of native wildflowers to grow undisturbed but poor management in the past can mean that interesting plants have vanished and need a bit of a helping hand. It is important to buy sustainably and responsibly sourced plants from reliable suppliers. really Wild Flowers is a supplier of native British plants, bulbs and seeds.

Many of the Wildlife Trusts in England and Wales have support and guidance available to help churches improve their outdoor space for wildlife. See the attached document for contact details of your local Wildlife Trust as well as any specific projects/advice that they currently offer.

Even if there are no specific church-orientated projects in operation, the majority of Trusts will be happy to provide you with general information to get you started.