Special interest groups
Cornwall's Living
Churchyards
Secret nature
Restormel Branch and church members
supported a successful afternoon in St
Mewan churchyard in May. A cold
wind ensured that we all enjoyed going
inside for tea and to look at Rowena
Varley's PR hats. With a barn owl
roosting in the tower, a flourishing
Cornish hedge, various trees and shrubs
and over 50 species of wild flowers in
bloom, it was a good example of how
rich in wildlife a churchyard can be.
A most interesting church search
organised by David Attwell of the North
Cornwall Heritage Coast and
Countryside Service was held on a
sunny afternoon in June at Tintagel. A
local historian spoke on the church
building and Andrew Langdon on the
ancient stones, after which Denis
Harding and Chris Haes were on hand to
help us discover the secrets of the
churchyard. What appeared at first sight
to be an unpromising piece of grassland
proved to be rich in species.
The insects especially were enjoying the
south-facing boundary, where a few feet
of brambles, grasses and other plants
had been left to flourish in front of a
Cornish hedge. The needs of economics
and conservation are well served here
by a sensible regime of three grass cuts
a year, thus enabling the wild flowers to
thrive even around the gravestones - a
fitting carpet ft)r this ancient church in
its dramatic setting.
Carol Simpson
Lanteglos' living churchyard
Lanteglos-by-Fowey is surely one of the
most beautiful parishes in Cornwall.
Bounded on three sides by rugged cliffs,
river estuary or tidal creek, it has a
gentle, rolling hinterland of farmland
with wooded streams. The farming is
mostly dominated by sheep or stock
cattle and is small in scale. Much of the
parish is with the National Trust. In the
geographical centre lies the ancient
parish church which seems to be
Church search at Tintagel. Photo: Carol Simpson
quaintly and perversely remote from the
main population clustered in the village
of Polruan or the hamlet of Bodinnick.
This 13th century church is surrounded
by three acres of churchyard, which is
itself bounded by grazing land and
mixed woodland. The churchyard is an
important place for local people. It is
generally recognised as a place of
beauty and great peace. Its cultural and
historical links are manifold - hardly an
hour goes by without a visitor.
Because the churchyard matters so
much and is of concern to the whole
parish, not just churchgoers, it presents
a management problem. Who should
pay for its upkeep? The church or the
local authority? What do we expect to
find? A dignified tidiness perhaps. But
do some people expect the lawns of a
cemetery or crematorium? Recognising
the pastoral and environmental
pressures. in 1992 we formed a
Churchyard Guild to advise the Church
Council on the management of the
churchyard. Essentially though, the
Guild was to provide a forum for the
Parish Council, the ecologists,
archaeologists, historians and users -
including, of course, the Methodists.
The Guild quickly adopted a "living
churchyard" policy and its intentions
were recognised by English Nature who
grant-aided the purchase of a
brushcutter. This machine enables the
burial grounds to be zoned. Certain
zones are then allowed to grow long so
that the wild flowers and grasses can
seed before cutting. At an early stage
we called in the Cornwall Wildlife
Trust, and Mary Atkinson expertly
recorded 75 species of plant. As our
regime begins to bear fruit, after four
years we can see the results - especially
important is the effect of not only just
cutting grass to the right height but also
raking it in order to keep soil fertility
down. Our management skills have
been greatly enhanced by the
recruitment to the Guild of our retired
local National Trust warden, who brings
a lifetime's experience to bear. We are
also fortunate that we are able to work
closely with our grass-cutting contractor
who is a local man. He now looks out
for clusters of wild flowers as he strims.
We are about to enter our next phase.
The new ground is to be enclosed by a
wildlife-friendly Cornish hedge and we
are "tuning up" the zones of grass in the
older burial grounds as we look forward
to a comprehensive wildlife audit in
1997/98.
Revd John Halkes
Pentreath Industries
Pentreath Industries, the mental health
charity offering work rehabilitation and
training to people with, or recovering
from, mental health problems has set up
a mobile amenity horticulture team in
the west of the county. From the
perspective of Pentreath's workers,
churchyards are an ideal place to heal
the spirit. The peace and tranquillity
engender the right atmosphere and the
work gives the satisfaction of providing
a worthwhile service to the community.
If your churchyard has become a little
neglected, for whatever reason, and you
believe we can help, please contact
Steve Turner on (0374) 855280 or
myself on (01736)752994 and we will
visit you to discuss your requirements.
Tim Linehan
Ancient Yew Hunt
Do you knoiv of any ancient (over a
thousand years old) common yew's? The
information is needed for a new book by
the national Church and Conservation
Project Please contact Carol Simpson
on (01872) 862168.
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