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 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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Monday 14th May - St Matthias
9.30 am Holy Communion
11.00 am Handbell ringing practice
2.15 pm Tiny Tots
2.40 pm Funeral of Daphne Sutherland at the Crematorium
7.30 pm Bell ringing practice
8.00 pm Housegroup at 38 Oak Green
8.00 pm Hall Committee meeting at 20 Parnell Close
Tuesday 15th May
10.15 am-12.15 pm Tuesday Coffee in St Lawrence
6.45 pm Choir practice
7.45 pm Dynamite Youth Group meets in the church hall
8.00 pm Housegroup at 18 St Lawrence Close
Wednesday 16th May
10.15 am Holy Communion
5.00 pm Blessing of Ginders' new Chapel of Rest
8.00 pm Parochial Church Council meets in the Vicarage
8.00 pm Mothers' Union meets at Bedmond Church
Thursday 17th May - Ascension Day
8.15-8.45 am Prayers for the Parish and Local Community
8.00 pm Parish Communion at Bedmond. Preacher: The Revd Angela Tilby, Canon of Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford
8.00 pm Parents' housegroup
Friday 18th May
9.30 am Morning Prayer with Holy Communion
10.00-12.00 noon Heart for Abbots Langley Coffee in the Henderson Hall
6.15 pm Youth Choir practice
Saturday 19th May
12.00 noon Wedding of Christopher Strand and Joanne Eldridge
Sunday 20th May - The Seventh Sunday of Easter
8.00 am Holy Communion
9.30 am Parish Communion with Seekers & Creche
11.00 pm Family Service at Bedmond
12.30 pm Sunday Lunch Club
6.30 pm Evening Prayer
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