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.
Choose products with this Mark
www.fairtrade.org.uk
The coming week...
Weekly Leaflet
Monday in Holy Week - 15th April
9.30 am Morning Prayer in St Lawrence
5.15 pm Evening Prayer in St Lawrence
8.00 pm Communion with talk in the Tin Church
Tuesday in Holy Week - 16th April
9.30 am Morning Prayer in St Lawrence
10.15 am Tuesday Coffee in the Breakspear Room, St Lawrence
11.15 am Funeral of Linda Butterfield in St Lawrence followed by cremation
5.15 pm Evening Prayer in St Lawrence
8.00 pm Communion with talk in the Tin Church
Wednesday in Holy Week - 17th April
9.30 am Morning Prayer in St Lawrence
11.15 am Quiet Reflection in the Corpus Christi Chapel, St Lawrence
12.00 noon Communion in the Corpus Christi Chapel, St Lawrence
5.15 pm Evening Prayer in St Lawrence
7.45 pm Choir practice in St Lawrence
8.00 pm Communion with talk in the Tin Church
Maundy Thursday - 18th April
8.15 am Early Prayer in St Lawrence
9.30 am Morning Prayer in St Lawrence
5.15 pm Evening Prayer in St Lawrence
8.00 pm Communion with foot washing followed by Watch through the Night at St Lawrence
Good Friday - 19th April
10.00 am Churches Together Walk of Witness leaves St Paul's, Langleybury
1.00 pm An Hour at the Cross in St Lawrence
2.00 pm Good Friday Liturgy in St Lawarence
2.00 pm A Service of Meditation and Reflection in the Tin Church
Saturday in Holy Week - 20th April
9.30 am Flower arranging in St Lawrence
Easter Day - 21st April
8.00 am Holy Communnion in St Lawrence
9.30 am Parish Communion in St Lawrence followed by Easter Egg Hunt
11.15 am Holy Communion in the Tin Church
6.30 pm Choral Evensong in St Lawrence
Easter Monday - 22nd April
9.30 am Communion in St Lawrence followed by breakfast in the church hall, walk to St Albans for picnic lunch outside the Cathedral, service in the Cathedral at 3.00 pm, then walk home - no supper this year
Tuesday 23rd April
9.30 am Morning Prayer in St Lawrence
10.15 am Tuesday Coffee in St Lawrence
5.15 pm Evening Prayer in St Lawrence
Wednesday 24th April
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 Communion in St Lawrence
5.15 pm Evening Prayer in St Lawrence
7.45 pm Choir practice in St Lawrence