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 6th April
Via Facebook page
9.00 am Morning Prayer
10.30am Vicar's Story Time
12 noon Funeral of Susan Mary Fox, Woodcock Hill Cemetery
2.00 pm School Assembly Online
4.30 pm Vicar's Story Time
6.30 pm Evening Prayer
8.00 pm Holy Week Reflection
Tuesday 7th April
Via Facebook Page
9.00 am Morning Prayer
10.30 am Vicar's Story Time
4.30 pm Vicar's Story Time
6.30 pm Evening Prayer
8.00 pm Holy Week Reflection
Wednesday 8th April
Via Facebook Page
9.00 am Morning Prayer
10.30 am Vicar's Story Time
2.00 pm School Assembly Online
4.30 pm Vicar's Story Time
6.30 pm Evening Prayer
8.00 pm Holy Week Reflection
Thursday 9th April
Via Facebook Page
9.00 am Morning Prayer
10.30 am Vicar's Story Time
4.30 pm Vicar's Story Time
6.30 pm Evening Prayer
8.00 pm Maundy Thursday Reflection
Friday 10th April
Via Facebook Page
9.00 am Morning Prayer
1.30 pm School Assembly Online
2-3pm An hour at the Cross
6.30 pm Evening Prayer
Saturday 11th April
Via Facebook Page
9.00 am Morning Prayer
10.30 am Vicar's Story Time
4.30 pm Vicar's Story Time
6.30 pm Evening Prayer
Sunday 12th April
Via Facebook Page
9.30 am Service from The Vicarage
4.30pm Vicar's Story Time
6.30 pm Evening Prayer