This became much more obvious to me on 2 sunny mornings in early June. I was invited by Anne Fox, the Church Warden, to St James, Southstoke. My task was to make a simple survey of things growing, crawling and flying in the churchyard. My first thought was, it is mostly grass and stone.
Some background: Somerset Wildlife Trust and The Diocese of Bath and Wells have joined to produce training, with further support, for churches to consider how we may sensitively increase the biodiversity in our churchyards, an initiative called “Wilder Churches”.
So, my survey was to get to know what wildlife was there. As I focussed on the detail on those 2 sunny mornings, naming, checking, photographing, making notes, I became completely absorbed. I found much more than grass and stone, and now we have a record. The list includes sow thistle, bugle, herb bennet, sorrel, wild strawberry, wall rue fern, fleabane fern, cats’ ear, and swallow.
Sue Monk