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 19th August
9.30 am Morning Prayer in St Lawrence
7.30 pm Ringers' practice in St Lawrence tower
Tuesday 20th August
9.30 am Morning Prayer in St Lawrence
10.15 am Tuesday Coffee in the Breakspear Room, St Lawrence
Wednesday 21st August
Church Office will be closed today
9.30 am Morning Prayer in St Lawrence
10.30 am Home Communion at Abbeyfield
11.15 am Quiet Reflection in St Lawrence
12.00 noon Holy Communion in St Lawrence followed by light lunch in the Breakspear Room
Friday 23rd August
9.30 am Morning Prayer in St Lawrence
10.00 am Craft Morning in the Tin Church
10.00 am AHAL Coffee in the Henderson Hub, Abbots Langley High Street
1.20 pm Funeral for Jennifer Evans at the Crematorium
2.00 pm Ascension Acorns in the Tin Church
2.00 pm Craft and Conversation in the Breakspear Room, St Lawrence
Sunday 25th August 2019 - the Tenth Sunday after Trinity
8.00 am Holy Communion in St Lawrence
9.30 am Parish Communion with Seekers and Creche in St Lawrence
Sorry, no 11.15 am at Bedmond
6.30 pm Evening Prayer in St Lawrence
Monday 26th August
Bank Holiday
The Church will be open between 10.00 am and 5.00 pm
Tuesday 27th August
9.30 am Morning Prayer in St Lawrence
10.15 am Tuesday Coffee in the Breakspear Room, St Lawrence
12.15 pm Funeral for Madeline Green in St Lawrence followed by burial at North Watford Cemetery
2.00 pm Burial of Ashes of Margaret Williams in the churchyard
Wednesday 28th August
9.30 am Morning Prayer in St Lawrence
10.30 am Carers Network meets in the Methodist hall
11.15 am Quiet Reflection in St Lawrence
12.00 noon Holy Communion in St Lawrence followed by light lunch in the Breakspear Room