The Churchyard

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Churchyard Species of the Month - February

Lichens

There appears little to see in our churchyard on a grey February day, but take a walk round and look at the graves and monuments and the bare branches of the trees, and you will see the coloured patches and crusty growth of lichen, a strange organism that seems to be neither plant, animal, nor fungus. These fascinating but often overlooked lifeforms are everywhere around us.

Lichens are actually 'dual' organisms, consisting of two or more different lifeforms living together symbiotically. The main partner is a fungus while the other is either a green alga or a photosynthesising cyanobacterium, sometimes both, known as a ‘photobiont’. Lichens pose a problem for biological classification because the three types of organism concerned come from three different kingdoms. After long debate, lichens are now classified as fungi, named under the genus and species of the host fungus.

The fungal partner provides a sheltered environment for the photobiont, protecting it from the elements and providing mineral nutrients. The alga or cyanobacterium partner provides food for both by the process of photosynthesis. Although the photobiont partner can in some cases live independently if conditions are right, the fungus cannot, and is totally dependent on the photobiont for its shape and structure.

There are around 1800 species of lichens in Great Britain and Ireland with more still being discovered each year, either new to the region or new to science. This compares with about 1760 species of native plants. There are four basic lichen growth forms; crustose, squamulose, foliose and fruticose, each with specific, although sometimes difficult to determine, characteristics. The fossil record for lichen definitely dates back 400 million and earlier forms may have existed up to 600 million years ago making them one of the earliest life-forms on land.

Lichens add another layer of diversity and beauty to our environment with their different colours and shapes. A landscape without lichens on the rocks, walls, fences and trees would be so much less interesting. They contribute to a rich ecosystem, providing food and shelter for a wide variety of tiny invertebrates, and small birds use fragments of lichen to camouflage their nests.

Reproduction is asexual, with flakes of dry lichen breaking off to be blown away on the wind to colonise where they land.

Many lichens are sensitive to changes around them and can be used by scientists to analyse air quality and show changes in the environment such as air pollution, ozone depletion and metal contamination. They grow extremely slowly, some reaching up to 1000 years old, and their diameter on a piece of rock can be used to show how long the rock has been exposed.

Some lichens produce substances which kill bacteria and have been used by people over the centuries as natural antibiotics to heal wounds. Lichens have also been used to make dyes, perfumes and herbal medicines.

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Conservation Project

Churchyards are usually areas of ground that have remained uncultivated for many years, and as such they have the potential to be havens for wildlife where plants and animals can thrive among the graves and monuments. Indeed, until the 20th century they were wild, un-mown places, alive with bees and butterflies, occasionally even grazed by sheep! In the 21st century properly and sympathetically managed churchyards can again become places of wild beauty and tranquillity, surrounding us with the comforting reminder of the ongoing life and vitality of God's creation even amidst the sadness we feel at the passing of our loved ones.

Here at St James, as in a growing number of parishes, we are putting into action a plan to manage our churchyard with wildlife conservation in mind. We began the process in a small way in the spring of 2013, building and placing bird boxes in all three churchyards, more than half of which became home to families of blue tits and great tits over the summer. The Churchyard Conservation Project is working to transform selected areas into wildflower meadow and create a habitat for bees and butterflies and other small creatures, which contrasts with the short grass in other parts of the churchyard and mown paths among the flowers and graves.

The Early Days

The seeds of the Churchyard Conservation Project were sown early in 2013 when, while looking at ways we might try to encourage new people to come along to church, and with the added asset of an enthusiastic zoology graduate embarking on a career in conservation and ecology, we hit upon the idea of organising a bird box building session in the churchyard, which we advertised with posters around the village, and which proved to be a huge success.

Inspired by the success of a similar project at Oldberrow church, we decided to develop part of the churchyard at St James as wildflower meadow and the Churchyard Project was born.

In November 2013, a team of volunteers began preparing the wildflower areas, weeding graves, rooting out unwanted saplings and building a habitat pile and a very impressive new compost heap. The process continued in 2014 with regular working parties and events and when we cut the wildflower meadow for the first time at the end of the summer, we celebrated the conclusion of our first year with a working party and barbecue which has since become an annual event. The support of volunteers from the congregation and from the wider community has been, and continues to be, fantastic - we couldn't do it without all your hard work!

Churchyard Areas

The project was initially undertaken in stages. Our first task was to begin to recreate the right conditions for wild meadow to develop, and the plan shows which areas we are managing for wildflowers.

We weren't sure if the resulting 12 boxes would be occupied in their first year, as they were put up rather later than would have been ideal, but seven of them (five at St James, one at the Old Church and one at St Peter's) quickly became home to families of blue tits and great tits. Throughout the spring and summer we posted updates and photographs of our resident families and gradually the idea of doing more to actively protect and encourage the wildlife in the churchyards evolved.

Areas B and C were wildflower meadow in the past, and in 2013 volunteers identified over 40 different species of wild flowers and grasses still present. These plants are gradually re-establishing themselves and during Cherishing Churchyards Week 2017 a group of ecologists identified over 150 different species of plants and animals thriving in the churchyard. In Area D, against the church north wall, the soil is thin and poor with grass and creeping buttercup competing with the wildflowers growing there naturally. Area A is quite sparse in places, with thin grass, moss and patches of bare earth and is particularly colourful when the early spring flowers are blooming. This part of the churchyard was actually the most successful in the first year with lots of interesting things appearing including the beautiful white Star of Bethlehem and a sea of oxeye daisies.

The meadow areas are mown early in the spring and then left to grow, and cut short in late summer after the flowers have gone to seed. The whole area is then kept short and tidied for the winter. The project relies on volunteers to help maintain the wildflower areas, and we have established a regular pattern of working parties in March, July and November when people come along to carry out general maintenance, enjoy each others' company (and hot drinks and cake). The spring and autumn sessions finish with a lunch of hot soup and bacon rolls, and the summer mow is followed by a barbecue in the churchyard. New volunteers are always most welcome - you don't have to be a church-goer to get involved! Details can be found on this website under Services/Events, on our Facebook page, or look out for posters around the village.

Annual Report 2017

2017 was the fourth year of the project, and things are starting to develop nicely. The Yellow Rattle, a semi-parasitic annual plant introduced as part of our management plan to control the vigorous grasses, is working well, and in the areas where it has established itself the grass was noticeably shorter and tidier for longer this season. This has allowed the wildflowers to gain a foothold, and as a result we have seen the spread of existing plants such as Meadow Vetchling and Birdsfoot Trefoil, as well as some exciting new plants popping up for the first time including Field Scabious and Peach Leaved Bell Flower. As the flowers have established we have also seen a rise in the numbers of pollinating insects and at least two new butterfly species that we haven’t seen before in the churchyard.

In June we held a Churchyard Open Day to celebrate Cherishing Churchyards Week. Although it was a dull and windy day we had a steady stream of visitors who came along to see what we are doing in our churchyard. We started the day early with moth and small mammal trapping, identifying many moths and insects, a wood mouse, two bank voles and a comparatively rare yellow-necked mouse which was a particularly exciting find. A group of young mums organised a Teddy-bears’ Picnic for the children and Julia Lucas displayed the results of her research into some of the graves and monuments, sharing some fascinating details about the lives of some of the people buried here. During the day, a group of ecologists carried out a detailed survey of the churchyard, recording over 75 species of plants and nearly 70 birds, animals and invertebrates – not bad for a single day!

Our efforts to create a place for nature to re-establish and flourish, providing habitat for a wide variety of species of plants and wildlife, are starting to take effect, and following the success of the open day and looking to the future as we move into the fifth year of the project, we feel we are nearly at the point at which we are able to invite the local schools to come and use the churchyard for science and natural history projects.

We are, as always, so grateful to our wonderful team of volunteers who come out in all weathers to our three working parties in March, July and November – they are the real heroes of the Churchyard Project which couldn’t run without them! Thank you, everyone, for all your continued support!