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 54 results
Taxa No. of records Most recent record
Achillea millefolium (Yarrow) 1 2022
Apus apus (Swift) 4 2020
Arrhenatherum elatius (False Oat-grass) 1 2023
Asplenium ruta-muraria (Wall-rue) 3 2023
Asplenium trichomanes (Maidenhair Spleenwort) 1 2023
Bellis perennis (Daisy) 3 2023
Centranthus ruber (Red Valerian) 3 2023
Chamerion angustifolium (Rosebay Willowherb) 1 2022
Cirsium vulgare (Spear Thistle) 1 2022
Cymbalaria muralis (Ivy-leaved Toadflax) 1 2023
Dactylis glomerata (Cock's-foot) 2 2023
Digitalis purpurea (Foxglove) 1 2022
Epilobium hirsutum (Great Willowherb) 1 2022
Epilobium montanum (Broad-leaved Willowherb) 2 2023
Fragaria vesca (Wild Strawberry) 1 2022
Galanthus nivalis (Snowdrop) 1 2022
Galium aparine (Cleavers) 1 2022
Geranium robertianum (Herb-Robert) 1 2022
Geum urbanum (Wood Avens) 1 2022
Glechoma hederacea (Ground-ivy) 1 2022
Hedera helix (Ivy) 1 2022
Heracleum sphondylium (Hogweed) 2 2023
Holcus lanatus (Yorkshire-fog) 3 2023
Hyacinthoides non-scripta x hispanica = H. x massartiana (Bluebell) 1 2022
Hypochaeris radicata (Cat's-ear) 1 2022
Ilex aquifolium (Holly) 2 2023
Jacobaea vulgaris (Common Ragwort) 2 2023
Leucanthemum vulgare (Oxeye Daisy) 1 2023
Meconopsis cambrica (Welsh Poppy) 2 2023
Myosotis (Forget-Me-Not) 1 2022
Papaver rhoeas (Common Poppy) 1 2022
Phyllitis scolopendrium (Hart's-tongue) 1 2022
Pilosella officinarum (Mouse-ear-hawkweed) 1 2023
Plantago lanceolata (Ribwort Plantain) 2 2023
Plantago major (Greater Plantain) 1 2022
Poa annua (Annual Meadow-grass) 1 2022
Polygonum (Knotgrass) 1 2022
Primula veris (Cowslip) 1 2022
Pseudofumaria lutea (Yellow Corydalis) 2 2023
Ranunculus acris (Meadow Buttercup) 1 2022
Ranunculus repens (Creeping Buttercup) 2 2023
Rumex acetosa (Common Sorrel) 1 2022
Rumex (Dock) 1 2022
Sambucus nigra (Elder) 3 2023
Senecio vulgaris (Groundsel) 2 2023
Sonchus asper (Prickly Sow-thistle) 2 2023
Sonchus oleraceus (Smooth Sow-thistle) 1 2022
Taraxacum (Dandelion) 1 2022
Taxus baccata (Yew) 1 2022
Tilia (Linden) 1 2022

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

Data sets Licence Records