St Lawrence Churchyard
A LIVING CHURCHYARD
We want our churchyard to be a 'living churchyard'. This doesn't mean that we just let it grow wild - each area is properly managed to encourage different flowers, butterflies, moths and birds.
Some areas of grass are not mown during the summer months - this has enabled a Pyramidal orchid Anacamptis pyramidalis and various wild flowers to grow for the last few years. This also allows caterpillars that feed on the wildflowers and grasses time to pupate. In this way we are trying to conserve and encourage as diverse a range of wildflowers as possible.
There are over one hundred species of wild flowers living here, not to mention grasses, trees, lichens, mosses, fungi and all the living creatures that depend on them. This diversity of wildlife is possible because of the history of the churchyard - it has not been cultivated nor has it been sprayed with herbicides or fertilisers. The church walls and headstones provide the conditions needed by slow-growing lichens, many of which are only found in churchyards in this part of the country.
It is not a nature reserve - we aim to achieve a balance between conserving wildlife and maintaining the churchyard as a fit setting for the church. If you would like to help us maintain the churchyard, a working party meets regularly each month, usually on the 1st Saturday of the month, from 9.30 am onwards, with a break around 11.00 am for some refreshment. The date of the next working party is usually advertised in the noticeboard alongside the footpath to the north of the church.
If you visit please look around and let us know if you see anything unusual or interesting. We would also welcome any comments, questions or suggestions.
Please click on the appropriate word below to see lists of what has been seen in the churchyard.
PLANT NAMES
BIRDS
BUTTERFLIES
MOTHS
LICHENS
The Herts and Middlesex Wildlife Trust has produced a pamphlet about churchyards which you can read by clicking here.
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The coming week...
Weekly Leaflet
Monday 10th February
9.0 am Morning Prayer
2.15 pm Tiny Tots in the Breakspear Room
7.30 pm Bell Ringing in St Lawrence
Tuesday 11th February
9.0 am Morning Prayer
10.15 am Coffee Morning in Breakspear Room
2.00 pm Tanners wood School visiting St Lawrence
7.30 pm Youth Club meets in church hall
Wednesday 12th February
9.0 am Morning Prayer
11.00 am Mothers Union Meets in Breakspear Room
11.15 am Quiet Reflection in St Lawrence
12 noon Eucharist (Mothers Union Corporate Communion) in St Lawrence followed by a light lunch
3.30 pm Messy Church in Methodist Church and Hall
7.45 pm Choir Practice in St Lawrence
Thursday 13th February
9.0 am Morning Prayer
10.30 am Home Communion at Hanover Gardens
Friday 14th February
9.0 am Morning Prayer
10.00 am Craft morning in the Tin Church
10.00 am AHAL Coffee in Henderson Hub, Abbots Langley High Street
2.00 pm Ascension Acorns in the Tin Church
2.00 pm Craft and Conversation in Breakspear Room
6.15 pm Youth Choir Practice in Breakspear Room
Saturday 15th February
11.00 am 'Exploring Christenings' in Breakspear Room
Sunday 16th February
8.00 am Holy Communion
9.30 am Christening of Malachy Kelleher-Bennet during Parish Communion with Seekers and Creche in St Lawrence
11.15 am Holy Communion at Bedmond in Tin Church
12.30 pm Sunday Lunch Club
12.45 pm Christening of Henry Glasgow
6.30 pm Evening Prayer in St Lawrence
7.30 pm "Is God a Monster?" in Breakspear Room