In God's acre we trust

Home to a veritable ‘Noah's Ark of species’, thanks to never being ploughed, sprayed or fertilised, our churchyards are a sacred haven for flora and fauna

- Laura Parker

If you want to find a heartening and positive story about Nature, look to your local churchyard. There, between the lychgate and the porch, a quiet revolution is going on. The seeds of this ferment can be found, literally, among the headstones, where ancient turf has lain undisturbed for centuries. Untouched by agricultural improvements, such as ploughing, pesticides and fertilisers, the ground may hold a genetic seedbank dating back 800 years.

There is a widespread and growing movement to understand, appreciate and preserve churchyards as valuable and biodiverse patches of land where, against the general run of things, many plants and creatures are thriving. ‘Churchyards are a Noah's Ark of species,’ declares Harriet Carty, director of Caring for God's Acre, a conservation charity for burial grounds. ‘As the wider countryside and urban spaces have become more hostile, wildlife has withdrawn to these safe, unchanged spaces. Creatures that were common 50 years ago and are now under threat, such as hedgehogs, slow worms and spotted flycatchers, will be in your local churchyard.’

Pay a visit to the grounds of your nearest place of worship and you are increasingly likely to come across signs and folders bulging with information about flora and fauna, from amphibians to wildflowers. Perhaps you will notice a lichen-spotter clutching a hand lens and examining gravestones, a birder with binoculars trained on a pair of peregrine falcons atop the spire or a primary-school group scouring the grass for beetles.