A matter of death and life
Friday, 20 August 2010 11:25 | 
Written by Elizabeth Hardcastle | 
| 
| 
Elizabeth Hardcastle of the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust explains how churchyards can be a sanctuary for the living as well as the dead
Churchyards in Yorkshire are being transformed into colourful wildlife havens supporting a huge variety of life. They are being managed in ways that are sympathetic to our native wildlife whilst at the same time keeping faith with the fact that they are sacred places, places of reflection where we remember our departed families and friends. In Yorkshire, the concept of living churchyards stems from a meeting in 1985 at Bishopthorpe Palace between the then Archbishop of York, Dr John Habgood and Sir David Attenborough. Both were concerned about the loss of species and habitats from the countryside and both realised that with appropriate management churchyards could help to redress that loss. From this meeting came the launch of the Yorkshire Living Churchyard Project as a joint venture between Yorkshire Wildlife Trust and the Yorkshire dioceses of the Church of England. Now, a quarter of a century later, living churchyards, urban as well as rural, can be found throughout the county.
Species and habitat loss began in the Second World War when the need to increase food production led to changes in agricultural practice. Traditional hay meadows with their wealth of wild flowers and fine grasses were lost to silage production and removing hedgerows to create fields large enough for modern farming machinery reduced nesting sites, cover and food for birds and small mammals. Together with the use of herbicides, pesticides and fertilisers and the advance of urban development, 97 per cent of unimproved lowland grassland – meaning it was not subjected to herbicides, pesticides and fertilisers and thus flower-rich and bio-diverse - has been lost since the war.
Whereas once churchyards reflected the abundant wildlife of the countryside around them, now they are refuges for plants and animals increasingly rare in the countryside; some wild flowers are now largely churchyard-dependent. Churchyards were cut from the meadowland or woodland surrounding the church, sometimes on a pre-Christian sacred site, and with sensitive management many of the plants associated with the original site will still appear, flower and set seed. The re establishment of the plants found when an ancient church was built restores the church to its historic setting. These were the wild flowers with which churches were decorated in years gone by and one church records that palms and willow were to be grown for Palm Sunday, woodruff for Corpus Christi, roses for St Martin’s day, birch for Midsummer’s day and holly and ivy for Christmas time.
Traditionally, churchyards were managed by scything two or three times a year, depending on the available manpower. The grass was left to dry for a few days, during which seeds would fall out and eventually germinate, and then made into haystacks which are great sources of food and shelter for wildlife. Some churchyards were and still are sheep or goat grazed. The hay crop was part of the freehold and income of the vicar who could sell it or use it for animal feed, especially horses which were essential transport in the pre-motor age. At least one clergyman took legal action when his hay crop was damaged.
In many of Yorkshire’s 1300 plus churchyards a succession of attractive plants can be found providing nectar, pollen and berries throughout the year. These are important food sources absent from the general countryside for many invertebrate animals including butterflies and bees, the latter in serious decline and both essential pollinators for successful crop production. Some are host plants for specific insects. British butterflies have evolved alongside British wild flowers and although they may take the nectar from cultivated garden flowers these are generally unsuitable as food plants for the caterpillars. The caterpillars of the orange tip butterfly prefer garlic mustard, lady’s smock (cuckoo flower) and sweet rocket. The colourful caterpillars of the cinnabar moth feed on ragwort and the holly blue butterfly uses two host plants for its caterpillars: holly and ivy. Nettles support 40 species of insects and are essential for the caterpillars of four of our butterflies – the red admiral, small tortoiseshell, comma and peacock. A nettle patch in full sun will attract these butterflies and the caterpillars of the peacock, red admiral and small tortoiseshell can be found hidden in silken leaf tents at the top of the plant.
Ivy is especially valuable. Clinging to trees and walls but with its roots in the ground from which it takes its nutrients, it provides nesting places and insects for birds. Flowering later than most other plants it extends the provision of nectar to the end of the year and then in the early part of the year its berries provide food for birds when supplies of other berries have been exhausted. Brambles provide excellent food, cover and nesting sites and are used by hundreds of creatures throughout the year. The delicate pignut has a small edible tuber at the base of its stem and was eaten by foraging pigs in the past. Often found in churchyards, it is one of the plants indicative of ancient meadowland.
It is in churchyards that many of our fine native grasses still flourish such as sweet vernal grass which gives the fragrant smell of freshly mown grass. Grasses swaying in the breeze look very attractive and are important for the brown butterflies which can be seen fluttering over them on sunny days. Left uncut at the foot of headstones, grasses give shade to amphibians and by not cutting close to the headstone, damage to both headstone and machine is avoided. Small mammals will find cover in long grass, eating insects and in turn becoming food for raptors such as owls.
Lichens, a symbiotic partnership of fungae and algae are found on church walls and headstones. Of the 1600 lichens found in Britain, more than one third are found in churchyards and some 300 are now churchyard dependent. The English churchyard is uniquely placed to conserve lichens but because of their sensitivity to the environment and to the position they face they can be easily destroyed by cleaning or moving headstones. Lichens do no damage to the stone and indeed protect it from acid rain. At night, snails and mites might be seen grazing on the lichens.
Visitors to the living churchyard may well be taken aback initially by its appearance. Information is important so that parishioners and visitors understand that the churchyard is not neglected but actively managed. They will understand that the pile of twigs mixed with mowings (a hibernaculum) and a log pile (dead wood is dead good!) are rich habitats along with areas of long grass and nettles. But the churchyard must give a managed, cared-for appearance. This is achieved by close-mowing the approach to the church, regularly mowing a strip of grass on either side of hard paths and mowing paths through long grass. Areas of current burials and tended graves must also be kept close-mown for these are the raison d’être of the churchyard.
For many people the churchyard is a place of peace, of hope. A living churchyard is a place of life too. With sensitive and gradual management changes a churchyard or cemetery can be transformed into a colourful oasis supporting a huge variety of life in the midst of an intensively farmed countryside or as part of a wildlife corridor in an urban conurbation. Wherever you live in Yorkshire you will not be far from one.
*For more information and advice about managing churchyards and cemeteries for wildlife and to find those nearest to you, call Elizabeth on 01904 659570 or e mail her at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .
Yorkshire Wildlife Trust
The Trust has worked for 60 years to protect wildlife of all types and the places where they live. It manages and protects 82 of the best and most important nature reserves in both rural and urban Yorkshire.
The Trust works to protect and save threatened species, such as otter and water vole, while helping people of all ages understand and enjoy their natural environment, and encouraging communities to protect wildlife in their local area.
Advising landowners on how to manage their land for wildlife, from large companies and local authorities to farmers and individuals, is a large part of the Trust’s work, as is influencing planning decisions and campaigning for better protection for wildlife.
The Trust is the only conservation organisation working exclusively in Yorkshire and is currently one of the fastest-growing charities in the UK.
Find out more at www.ywt.org.uk
Churchyards in Yorkshire are being transformed into colourful wildlife havens supporting a huge variety of life. They are being managed in ways that are sympathetic to our native wildlife whilst at the same time keeping faith with the fact that they are sacred places, places of reflection where we remember our departed families and friends. In Yorkshire, the concept of living churchyards stems from a meeting in 1985 at Bishopthorpe Palace between the then Archbishop of York, Dr John Habgood and Sir David Attenborough. Both were concerned about the loss of species and habitats from the countryside and both realised that with appropriate management churchyards could help to redress that loss. From this meeting came the launch of the Yorkshire Living Churchyard Project as a joint venture between Yorkshire Wildlife Trust and the Yorkshire dioceses of the Church of England. Now, a quarter of a century later, living churchyards, urban as well as rural, can be found throughout the county.
Species and habitat loss began in the Second World War when the need to increase food production led to changes in agricultural practice. Traditional hay meadows with their wealth of wild flowers and fine grasses were lost to silage production and removing hedgerows to create fields large enough for modern farming machinery reduced nesting sites, cover and food for birds and small mammals. Together with the use of herbicides, pesticides and fertilisers and the advance of urban development, 97 per cent of unimproved lowland grassland – meaning it was not subjected to herbicides, pesticides and fertilisers and thus flower-rich and bio-diverse - has been lost since the war.
Whereas once churchyards reflected the abundant wildlife of the countryside around them, now they are refuges for plants and animals increasingly rare in the countryside; some wild flowers are now largely churchyard-dependent. Churchyards were cut from the meadowland or woodland surrounding the church, sometimes on a pre-Christian sacred site, and with sensitive management many of the plants associated with the original site will still appear, flower and set seed. The re establishment of the plants found when an ancient church was built restores the church to its historic setting. These were the wild flowers with which churches were decorated in years gone by and one church records that palms and willow were to be grown for Palm Sunday, woodruff for Corpus Christi, roses for St Martin’s day, birch for Midsummer’s day and holly and ivy for Christmas time.
Traditionally, churchyards were managed by scything two or three times a year, depending on the available manpower. The grass was left to dry for a few days, during which seeds would fall out and eventually germinate, and then made into haystacks which are great sources of food and shelter for wildlife. Some churchyards were and still are sheep or goat grazed. The hay crop was part of the freehold and income of the vicar who could sell it or use it for animal feed, especially horses which were essential transport in the pre-motor age. At least one clergyman took legal action when his hay crop was damaged.
In many of Yorkshire’s 1300 plus churchyards a succession of attractive plants can be found providing nectar, pollen and berries throughout the year. These are important food sources absent from the general countryside for many invertebrate animals including butterflies and bees, the latter in serious decline and both essential pollinators for successful crop production. Some are host plants for specific insects. British butterflies have evolved alongside British wild flowers and although they may take the nectar from cultivated garden flowers these are generally unsuitable as food plants for the caterpillars. The caterpillars of the orange tip butterfly prefer garlic mustard, lady’s smock (cuckoo flower) and sweet rocket. The colourful caterpillars of the cinnabar moth feed on ragwort and the holly blue butterfly uses two host plants for its caterpillars: holly and ivy. Nettles support 40 species of insects and are essential for the caterpillars of four of our butterflies – the red admiral, small tortoiseshell, comma and peacock. A nettle patch in full sun will attract these butterflies and the caterpillars of the peacock, red admiral and small tortoiseshell can be found hidden in silken leaf tents at the top of the plant.
Ivy is especially valuable. Clinging to trees and walls but with its roots in the ground from which it takes its nutrients, it provides nesting places and insects for birds. Flowering later than most other plants it extends the provision of nectar to the end of the year and then in the early part of the year its berries provide food for birds when supplies of other berries have been exhausted. Brambles provide excellent food, cover and nesting sites and are used by hundreds of creatures throughout the year. The delicate pignut has a small edible tuber at the base of its stem and was eaten by foraging pigs in the past. Often found in churchyards, it is one of the plants indicative of ancient meadowland.
It is in churchyards that many of our fine native grasses still flourish such as sweet vernal grass which gives the fragrant smell of freshly mown grass. Grasses swaying in the breeze look very attractive and are important for the brown butterflies which can be seen fluttering over them on sunny days. Left uncut at the foot of headstones, grasses give shade to amphibians and by not cutting close to the headstone, damage to both headstone and machine is avoided. Small mammals will find cover in long grass, eating insects and in turn becoming food for raptors such as owls.
Lichens, a symbiotic partnership of fungae and algae are found on church walls and headstones. Of the 1600 lichens found in Britain, more than one third are found in churchyards and some 300 are now churchyard dependent. The English churchyard is uniquely placed to conserve lichens but because of their sensitivity to the environment and to the position they face they can be easily destroyed by cleaning or moving headstones. Lichens do no damage to the stone and indeed protect it from acid rain. At night, snails and mites might be seen grazing on the lichens.
Visitors to the living churchyard may well be taken aback initially by its appearance. Information is important so that parishioners and visitors understand that the churchyard is not neglected but actively managed. They will understand that the pile of twigs mixed with mowings (a hibernaculum) and a log pile (dead wood is dead good!) are rich habitats along with areas of long grass and nettles. But the churchyard must give a managed, cared-for appearance. This is achieved by close-mowing the approach to the church, regularly mowing a strip of grass on either side of hard paths and mowing paths through long grass. Areas of current burials and tended graves must also be kept close-mown for these are the raison d’être of the churchyard.
For many people the churchyard is a place of peace, of hope. A living churchyard is a place of life too. With sensitive and gradual management changes a churchyard or cemetery can be transformed into a colourful oasis supporting a huge variety of life in the midst of an intensively farmed countryside or as part of a wildlife corridor in an urban conurbation. Wherever you live in Yorkshire you will not be far from one.
*For more information and advice about managing churchyards and cemeteries for wildlife and to find those nearest to you, call Elizabeth on 01904 659570 or e mail her at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .
Yorkshire Wildlife Trust
The Trust has worked for 60 years to protect wildlife of all types and the places where they live. It manages and protects 82 of the best and most important nature reserves in both rural and urban Yorkshire.
The Trust works to protect and save threatened species, such as otter and water vole, while helping people of all ages understand and enjoy their natural environment, and encouraging communities to protect wildlife in their local area.
Advising landowners on how to manage their land for wildlife, from large companies and local authorities to farmers and individuals, is a large part of the Trust’s work, as is influencing planning decisions and campaigning for better protection for wildlife.
The Trust is the only conservation organisation working exclusively in Yorkshire and is currently one of the fastest-growing charities in the UK.
Find out more at www.ywt.org.uk
