BOZEAT CONSERVATION & ENVIRONMENT GROUP

St Mary’s Churchyard Conservation Area

Aims

Our ultimate aim is to create and manage a wild life area to the rear of the church, that is home to a wide variety of plants, flowers, birds and insects, and provides an atmosphere of peace and tranquillity for visitors.

We would like the churchyard to be a living sanctuary where we can demonstrate our care and respect for the whole of God’s creation. During our lifetimes we are all custodians of creation and are responsible for nurturing and passing on to future generations that which we were given. The way we care for our churchyards shows respect not only for the dead, but also for the living and all living things.

Objectives

• To create an attractive and interesting area for visitors.
   
• To increase the number of wildflowers by lowering the soil fertility and establishing a complimentary grass management regime.
   
• To improve the extent and suitability of the habitat for butterflies, birds, insects, spiders and small mammals.
   
• To publicise our work in the wider community and to encourage others to become involved.
   
• To increase our own knowledge of conservation issues.

Start of the work completed during 2004

• Larger areas mown – this has allowed coarse grasses to be kept under control whilst encouraging any flowering plants to get better established/spread across the area.

• Wildflowers moved/planted in other areas of the churchyard as well as being more widely distributes through out area. Eg dog daisy, scabious, knapweed, Standard Johns Wort.
• Extra hedging plants – hedge extended and thickened as well as dead plants replaced.

• Nettle area was successfully again in producing broods of caterpillars.
• Yellow rattle, sown two years ago flowered this year on an area that was cleared by being covered by polythene previously
   
• Ivy cleared off the grave stones
   
• Bulbs planted – wild daffodils, snakes head fritillary, snowdrops replanted to cover a wider area.

The last couple of years of continued work...

• Kept much more of the grass mown to reduce the amount of coarse grass, but mowing round any flowering plants and allowing them to seed.  This has created a patchwork effect but will result in many more wildflowers in the long run.
• Established areas of long grass that are cut only once a year to enable over-wintering caterpillars of butterflies such as Meadow Brown and Ringlet to survive.
   
• Planted a wildflower border in front of the West wall – plants include musk mallow, scabious, toadflax and knapweed.
   
• Mown paths have been maintained to promote access.
   
• A hedge has been planted in front of the composting area.  This will screen off the compost heaps in a few years and also provide more nesting sites for birds. The hedge around the wall has been thickened.
   
• Maintained two nettle patches which have rewarded us with good crops of caterpillars and lots of Red Admiral, Tortoiseshell, Painted Lady and Peacock butterflies as well and hundreds of ladybirds.

...... a selection of butterflys

You are able to reach us by email -  villageteam@bozeat.info with comments and suggestions
for new pages, links to other sites of interest that we can include within this website.
Please look at the magazine page for the diary dates for the village.