Ecological summary

Burial grounds are fantastic places for biodiversity, often containing species rich grassland which was once widespread in the UK. The walls and monuments create habitat for amphibians, reptiles, small mammals and invertebrates as well as ferns, mosses and liverworts. Of the 2,000 lichen species in the UK, 700 are found in churchyards with a third of these rarely found elsewhere. Check for thrushes feeding on yew berries and swifts and bats under the eaves.

Caring for God's Acre is a national charity dedicated to supporting those managing burial grounds for conservation and heritage purposes. More information on the support offered can be found on their website here: https://www.caringforgodsacre.org.uk. To view the occurrence records in this burial ground click on the View records button underneath the map.

Ancient & Veteran Trees

The UK holds a globally important population of veteran and ancient yew trees of which three-quarters are found in the churchyards of England and Wales. There are about 800 of these ancient and veteran yews, aged from 500 to several 1,000 years old, with no known upper age limit. Burial grounds may contain veteran trees of other species.

Burial grounds may also contain veteran trees of other species, acting as hosts to a wealth of associated plants, animals, lichen and fungi.

Bats and Swifts

Bats – Bats use both the buildings and also the mature and veteran trees within burial grounds to roost, breed and overwinter. These places are relatively unchanging and so populations may have built up over centuries. In addition, bats may forage and feed over the grassland and other vegetation, taking advantage of the wide variety of insect species to be found.

Swifts – The eaves, roofs, towers and steeples of historic churches and chapels, combined with the space around them for accessing nooks and crannies make burial grounds excellent for nesting swifts. These buildings are relatively unchanging and so populations may have built up over centuries. Nests are hard to find and so surveying is crucial for good management.

[counting] species

This map contains both point- and grid-based occurrences at different resolutions

Datasets

datasets have provided data to the NBN Atlas Beautiful Burial Grounds for this place.

Browse the list of datasets and find organisations you can join if you are interested in participating in a survey for this place.

Other Heritage Information

Group Species

[counting] species

This map contains both point- and grid-based occurrences at different resolutions

Showing 1 - 50 of 121 results
Taxa No. of records Most recent record
Accipiter nisus (Sparrowhawk) 3 2005
Acrocephalus scirpaceus (Reed Warbler) 1 2016
Aegithalos caudatus (Long-tailed Tit) 5 2020
Andrena floricola (Chilterns Mini-miner) 1 1939
Angerona prunaria (Orange Moth) 1 2011
Anthocharis cardamines britannica (Orange-tip) 8 1942
Anthocharis cardamines (Orange-tip) 1 1906
Aphantopus hyperantus (Ringlet) 18 1950
Aplocera efformata (Lesser Treble-bar) 14 1926
Aplocera plagiata plagiata (Treble-bar) 1 1923
Apus apus apus 1 2022
Apus apus (Swift) 1 2011
Aricia agestis (Brown Argus) 20 1949
Armadillidium vulgare (Common Pill Woodlouse) 2 1972
Bellardia vulgaris (Pale-veined Emerald-bottle) 1 1927
Bombus ruderatus (Large Garden Bumblebee) 5 1939
Bromus interruptus (Interrupted Brome) 12 1904
Buteo buteo (Buzzard) 1 2015
Callophrys rubi (Green Hairstreak) 2 1918
Campanula glomerata (Clustered Bellflower) 1 1904
Carduelis carduelis (Goldfinch) 11 2020
Celastrina argiolus britanna (Holly Blue) 4 1934
Cephalanthera damasonium (White Helleborine) 1 1911
Chloris chloris (Greenfinch) 110 2020
Chloroclystis v-ata (V-pug) 1
Chroicocephalus ridibundus (Black-headed Gull) 1 2020
Cidaria fulvata (Barred Yellow) 1
Coenonympha pamphilus (Small Heath) 30 1950
Colias hyale (Pale Clouded Yellow) 1 1933
Coloeus monedula (Jackdaw) 10 2020
Colostygia olivata (Beech-green Carpet) 1 1923
Columba livia (Rock Dove) 6 1998
Columba palumbus (Woodpigeon) 116 2020
Corvus corone (Carrion Crow) 7 2020
Crocallis elinguaria (Scalloped Oak) 1 2023
Cupido minimus (Small Blue) 15 1960
Cyanistes caeruleus (Blue Tit) 115 2020
Cyclophora linearia (Clay Triple-lines) 6
Deilephila porcellus (Small Elephant Hawk-moth) 1
Delia carduiformis 8 1879
Dendrocopos major (Great Spotted Woodpecker) 3 2009
Ematurga atomaria (Common Heath) 4 1942
Ennomos quercinaria (August Thorn) 2 1923
Erinaceus europaeus (West European Hedgehog) 1 2005
Erithacus rubecula (Robin) 124 2020
Erynnis tages tages (Dingy Skipper) 1 1949
Eurychaeta palpalis (False fleshfly) 1 1927
Euthrix potatoria (Drinker) 10 1932
Fabriciana adippe (High Brown Fritillary) 3 1933
Favonius quercus (Purple Hairstreak) 1 1908

Charts showing breakdown of occurrence records ([counting] records)

Data sets Licence Records