Page 5 - Historic Churches 2013
Basic HTML Version
BCD Special Report on
Historic Churches
20th annual edition
5
CATHEDRAL
C O M M U N I C A T I O N S
• summer evening walks to see bats, swifts
and owls; churchyard explorer walks
to understand lichens, wildflowers and
invertebrates.
KEY LESSONS
A useful approach to graveyard management
is to consider ‘the three Rs’:
•
Reduce
the use of chemicals as they
destabilise the soil, cause memorial collapse
and habitat contamination for lichens;
the number of grassland cuts in less
prominent areas; over-cleaning of walls and
monuments.
•
Remove
grass cuttings from low-lying
memorials.
•
Retain
, where appropriate, short grass for
waxcap fungi; lichens and mosses (they are
often harmless to historic stonework and
are an important part of its historic patina);
ivy and dead wood; mature trees and
hedges; gravestones, old walls and roofing
materials in situ.
Managing a graveyard sensitively enhances the
cultural aspects of the church building. The
experience of exploring a church’s rich history
is dramatically improved when visitors arrive
to find pathways well kept, trees well cared for
and clear indications that biodiversity is being
actively promoted. The latter might include
an area of ground with a different cutting or
mowing regime with interpretation explaining
what the visitor is likely to see at different times
of the year. A sterile, over-managed exterior
can mar a fascinating church interior. Equally,
an unkempt graveyard can ruin a visit to a
historic church, giving the impression that the
local community neither cares about its local
church, nor welcomes visitors to explore it.
WIDER BENEFITS
Community participation leads to local
people caring for and sharing their important
wildlife or culturally-important areas. People
of all ages, abilities and interests can become
involved. Church newsletters, websites and
local newspapers can be used to celebrate
their efforts. Many green graveyard projects
appear in the UK Biodiversity Action
Recording System which ensures small-
scale community projects count towards
national and international targets making
a direct contribution, therefore, to the UK
biodiversity process. Importantly, as all public
bodies and their officers have a ‘biodiversity
duty’ (enacted by the Nature Conservation
(Scotland) Act 2004 and outside Scotland
established by the Natural Environment and
Rural Communities Act 2006), such projects
demonstrate good practice and partnership
working. Importantly, from a biodiversity
conservation point of view, increasingly rare and
vulnerable habitats and species are safeguarded.
Further Information
Aberdeenshire Historic Kirkyards Project
/
projects/kirkyards.asp
Caring for God’s Acre
The Carved Stones Adviser Project
Clyde and Avon Valley Landscape Partnership
Eco-Congregation
Perth and Kinross Heritage Trust’s Historic
Churchyard Project
Tayside Biodiversity Partnership
DR SUSAN BUCKHAM
is a freelance heritage
consultant specialising in historic graveyards and
is alsothegraveyardsdevelopmentofficeratEdinburgh
World Heritage. She was formerly the carved stones
adviser (2001–2005) and led a Historic Scotland/
Archaeology Scotland project to develop best practice
in graveyard recording and conservation.
Email
CATHERINE LLOYD
has been the Tayside
Biodiversity Partnership’s coordinator for 13
years. The partnership is currently taking forward
over 70 projects, including the Tayside Green
Graveyard Initiative. Email
Biodiversity professionals now work with historians to discuss how best to conserve important monuments. Where
a lichen species is common and the monument is of cultural importance, the priority remains with the historical
aspect. If a species of lichen is found to be very rare or of local significance, conservation measures can be discussed.
The Howff, Dundee (category A listed) is one of Scotland’s most important historic burial grounds and an urban
‘green graveyard’ which has been enhanced to promote biodiversity
