Caring for God’s Acre: a guided tour around the churchyard wildflowers at St Philip's, Burwash

By uniting their expertise and time, they have formulated a plan to protect and conserve the wide variety of wild flowers in the churchyard and wanted to share their passion more widely.

On a bright sunny day, with music from the Baptism service inside the church complementing the melodies of the birds outside, 46 interested locals, with a variety of personal interests, took up the offer made by Helen Proctor, local botanist, to join one of 3 fascinating guided tours- there is nothing like an expert and enthusiast leading keen students on a voyage of discovery.

St Philips inherited a hay meadow when the Trower sisters living next door generously donated land from their farm to build a church, which opened in 1867. (https://www.achurchnearyou). The church still retains the flora of a traditionally managed hay meadow. It is on unimproved grassland that has never been chemically fertilised, ploughed or drained and it enabling a wealth of flora to flourish.

130 species of wild flower were recorded by two members of the Sussex Botanical Recording Society, one of which was Helen, in 2017. Of the 400 Sussex churchyards that were recorded at that time, St. Philip’s churchyard proved to be one of the best for species-richness and diversity including two native orchid species. Unfortunately, 97% of our meadows have been lost due to agricultural intensification and building developments.

It is especially important that we maintain the remaining meadows with care, not least as our native wild flowers are important for pollinating insects to thrive, so a churchyard plan has been developed which includes removing grass cutting so the soil remains unimproved, as well as waiting until seed is set before cutting. Invasive species may need cutting back and access to visited graves needs to be maintained.

Caring for God’s Acre became a national charity in 2000, promoting the conservation of burial sites and supporting the volunteers who look after and maintain them. There are over 25,000 burial grounds across the UK, ranging from small rural medieval churchyards to large Victorian city cemeteries, spanning different cultures and religions. Often these sites have been set apart for centuries and relatively undisturbed, hence offering much needed refuge for our native wildlife of all varieties – plants, mammals, invertebrates, reptiles.Advice is available on management of grassland to encourage wildlife whilst still allowing access to visitors and relatives as well as issues such as lichen on gravestones.

Visit caringforgodsacre.org.uk/ or call 01588 673041

“Wild about Burwash” will support St Philips churchyard project to ensure that conservation work, in conjunction with their contractor, enables the flora to thrive well into the future. Wild about Burwash was set up in 2019 from a small group of volunteers working on theEnvironment content of the Burwash Neighbourhood Plan. This community group welcomes anyone who wants to learn more about, enjoy, protect and enhance the wildlife and natural environment of Burwash, Burwash Weald and Burwash Common villages. It works closely with Burwash Parish Council, the High Weald AONB team, Sussex Wildlife Trust and other “Wild About” groups nearby. Activities include sharing and cross-checking interesting sightings on a friendly What’s App group, recording on https://irecord.org.uk , walks, talks, quizzes and social evenings as well as sharing concerns and ideas such as an orchard replanting project. The group undertakes some active groundwork tackling invasive species or surveying hedgerows and wildflower verge. More details from [email protected] orhttps://www.facebook.com/Wild-about-Burwash-104623630977054 /