Wildlife returns to St. Peter's, Offord D'Arcy
Churchyards can be wildlife havens and play an important role when it comes to caring for the environment. The Friends of St. Peter’s in Offord D’Arcy have demonstrated the potential a churchyard can have with a Wildlife Trust Award winning project. Thanks to the group’s resilience, care and hard work the churchyard at St. Peter’s now provides wildlife with shelter, food and a place to lay their eggs, as well as being home to an impressive variety of plants. Find out all about what it took to bring an unloved churchyard back to life below.
Last year, a couple of members of the Friends of St. Peter’s, on a coach journey back from visiting a garden, began to discuss the importance of the natural landscape and the possibility of changing the emphasis of St. Peter’s churchyard. Previous mowing regimes were unsatisfactory, with the Parish Council trying to cut the whole area very short, when it was impossible in this closed churchyard, with grave stones and other stone objects and uneven areas in their way. It left the area looking unloved and not well managed. Noone was happy with the outcome. So, with the agreement of other members of the committee, we embarked on a project last year to “re wild” the surrounding churchyard of St. Peter’s. With the help of the Wildlife Trust a plan was devised to create a more wildlife friendly environment whilst understanding the need for access for visitors. We felt we needed to get away from the idea that ALL grass should be cut short, all neat and tidy, like a carpet in your living room. The Trust made us realise long grass is a vital habitat for wildlife; for shelter, food and to lay their eggs. In the past a flowering churchyard full of wild flowers and grasses, was viewed as “full of weeds, overgrown and unkempt”, but we hoped to change people’s minds to realise it is a beautiful place and a vital home for birds and insects.
Wildflower meadows are now rare, and churchyards are one of the last remnants of this kind of habitat… and yes, (and this shocked a few !) there is a place for nettles and ivy in a maintained way!
With a grant awarded by Cambridge Gardens Trust, and a new mowing regime agreed with the help of The Parish Council, we have been able to progress with this project.
We made a plan.
One of the most important aspects of a project like this was to get the general public on board.
We held an Open Day on Saturday 29th June 2024 to let the men, women and children of Offord discover and understand the importance of different environments within the churchyard. As well as displays inside the church, we had a number of outside fun activities for the children, including their own art exhibition. The Cambridgeshire Bee Keepers Association had a stall and The Cambridgeshire Mammals Group undertook a footprint survey days before, so that we could show the results of creatures that live around St. Peter’s. A botanist showed the many species of plants that even a metre square of grass could hold. Of course, it goes without saying, tea and cakes were also served!
From the comments we received afterwards it was very successful.
The Wildlife Trust were also impressed and presented us with their bronze award.
It has taken a lot of hard work, with work parties helping to remove nettles in certain areas, lifting of tree canopies, and developing a supply of yellow rattle, as well as applying for grants and reaching out to organisations for help. This is a long term project that will get better over time. We hope to see more and more grasses and wild flowers as the years go by, and as the yellow rattle has time to weaken the course grass that has built up over many years.
We now have an information area inside the church, keeping people up to date with any wildlife spotted:
Written by Julie Angell and Janet Bedingfield (Friends of St. Peter's)