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Living Faith for the Earth Supporting biodiversity in a churchyard The story of turning a churchyard that had become a forest of overgrown trees and tangled undergrowth, convenient for prostitution and drug taking, to be a much appreciated quiet green space in the middle of a busy urban area. Its maintenance has also become an important partnership between the church and others in the local community, and the churchyard is now an educational resource on wildlife and local history. St Mary and St John Church in East Oxford
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Churchyard Case Study - St Mary & St John Oxford

Mar 12, 2016

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Supporting biodiversity in a churchyard: The story of turning a churchyard that had become a forest of overgrown trees and tangled undergrowth, convenient for prostitution and drug taking, to be a much appreciated quiet green space in the middle of a busy urban area. Its maintenance has also become an important partnership between the church and others in the local community, and the churchyard is now an educational resource on wildlife and local history.
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Page 1: Churchyard Case Study - St Mary & St John Oxford

Living Faith for the Earth

Supporting biodiversity in a churchyard

The story of turning a churchyard that had become a forest of

overgrown trees and tangled undergrowth, convenient for prostitution

and drug taking, to be a much appreciated quiet green space in the

middle of a busy urban area. Its maintenance has also become an

important partnership between the church and others in the local

community, and the churchyard is now an educational resource on

wildlife and local history.

St Mary and St John

Church in East Oxford

Page 2: Churchyard Case Study - St Mary & St John Oxford

Case Study: St Mary & St John Church, East Oxford

In the latter part of the twentieth century the churchyard, which had been established a hundred years earlier, gradually became massively overgrown with self-sown trees and impenetrable thickets of bramble and ivy. It had become a place for drug taking and prostitution. In 2000, under the leadership of a Community Policeman, a team of soldiers from the locally-based Pioneer Regiment, spent a week cutting back the jungle, revealing many dislodged and damaged memorials. With support from the East Oxford Single Regeneration Budget, paths were resurfaced, lights installed, and a boundary wall lowered. The churchyard was closed for burials and Oxford City Council took over the maintenance, but with the proviso that they did not have the resources to maintain it in its wilderness state. After consultation with the local community (through questionnaires and an interactive display), a partnership was established whereby a voluntary Churchyard Group, responsible to the PCC, manage most of the site as a wildlife conservation area, while the Council are responsible for cutting the short grass areas, tree safety, emptying litter bins, and providing some support to the voluntary group over issues such as removal of green waste.

Two successive 5 year management plans have guided the maintenance of a variety of habitats and the development of specific projects (such as a wildflower Garden of Thanksgiving and Remembrance, and an area planted out so as to encourage butterflies and moths), while at the same time keeping sight lines throughout and providing access to family graves. Trying to keep control over the invasive plants (brambles, nettles, docks etc) is a huge task. We have weekly volunteer working sessions (Saturday afternoons, plus Wednesday evenings in the summer) and are always on the look-out for people willing to help. We have benefited from Corporate volunteering when staff teams have spent a day with us.

Education

Each year, we also have a couple of 'planting days' and the occasional activity day (guided trails, children's games etc) or species specific events (such as a Moth and Bat evening).

The installation of two interpretation boards helps people to enjoy what is now a relatively quiet green space and to gain some understanding of local history.

The churchyard's value as an educational resource has been boosted by a Heritage Lottery grant, which included funding historical research and the repair of significant memorials, and enabled the development of our website.

Another specific project, enhancing relationships with the local community, was landscaping the frontage onto the main road as a community garden, with a mini-labyrinth (a work of public art) as its centre piece.

Surveying wildlife

Surveying and recording the wildlife requires knowledge and expertise. A grant from Breathing Places allowed us to commission professional surveys of both Bryophytes and Lichens. But

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Page 3: Churchyard Case Study - St Mary & St John Oxford

regular monitoring of plants, birds, bees, butterflies, bats and moths is done by volunteers, led by Ruth Ashcroft, a co-leader of the churchyard project, who is both knowledgeable and keenly interested. We have tried to match volunteers to training courses run by organisations such as BBOWT, but both volunteers and training courses are often in very short supply!

Church

From the church perspective, this is a successful outreach project: many of the volunteers and the vast majority of those who visit and appreciate the churchyard are not church members. But within the church, the connection is made to our calling to care for God's creation. Every milestone, like the installation of the Trinity labyrinth and the completion of the Garden of Remembrance & Thanksgiving, has been celebrated by an act of Worship. Another connection has been made by planting a local variety of Apple tree as a Baptism tree: after every baptism in church the water is taken by the children to water the tree, prompting discussion of how essential water is to life – as is Jesus, the Water of life.

Length of time involved 10yrs

Costs 2003 – 2010: £165,000

The majority of the money has been from grants given for specific projects. Funders have included the Local Council, Trusts supporting environmental and/or community projects, Oxford Preservation Trust, Conservation Foundation, Heritage Lottery, Big Lottery/BBC Breathing Places and WREN (Landfill Tax credit).

Impact on sustainability/shrinking your footprint It's a small contribution to maintaining trees (that absorb carbon dioxide) and a green corridor for wildlife, in a very built-up area. But chiefly it enhances appreciation of the natural world and our responsibility to care for it.

Lessons learnt The interpretation boards have proved invaluable in explaining to passers by that the churchyard is being managed for wildlife, as well as giving some indication of the local history.

People in work and involved in their own friendship and interest groups find it difficult to commit to regular work in the churchyard. So volunteers are more likely to be people who are retired, semi-employed, in the process of looking for employment, or coping with mental health problems. Their engagement with us is often intermittent and temporary. This is also true of students. So recruiting volunteers is an on-going process, possibly best done through conversations with people who are visiting – and appreciating – the churchyard! Volunteers also come through our local Volunteering Centre.

Professional advice has been crucial, in our case not only on different aspects of nature conservation, but also on the conservation of stone, wood and iron memorials.

Equipment, professional advice, commissioned work by contractors, publicity and administration expenses, all cost money! So trying to 'restore' a two acre churchyard that had become extremely overgrown and dilapidated, required a great deal of time spent on fund-raising and project management. In order to secure grants, it is important to define specific projects, each matched to the interest of the potential funder, rather than applying for general support. And if possible, the cost of the administrative work involved should be included in the budget.

The details

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Page 4: Churchyard Case Study - St Mary & St John Oxford

Earthing Faith is a collaborative website to resource and encourage us as we connect our spirituality and faith with the earth. The website is hosted by the Diocese of Oxford to provide a space to share ideas and experiences around the environment.

Visit Earthing Faith to spark some ideas and connect you with other peoples experiences, and to share your own story.

Find out more at: www.earthingfaith.org

Earthing Faith

Contact details

Post: Environment Officer, Diocese of Oxford, North Hinksey, Oxford OX2 0NB

Tel: 01865 208745 | Email: [email protected]

Web: www.oxford.anglican.org/environment | www.earthingfaith.org

Further information and resources from the Diocese of Oxford, including leaflets and case studies, can be found at www.oxford.anglican.org/environment or through the contact details below.

Living Faith for the Earth

Further resources

St Mary and St John Churchyard has a website with lots more information - including maps, educational materials and local history and wildlife information: www.ssmjchurchyard.org.uk

The following are resources that St Mary & St John Church found helpful for this project and would recommend to others doing similar projects:

Managing a churchyard for wildlife:

Resources from the 'Caring for God's Acre': www.caringforgodsacre.org.uk

Churchyard pages on the Church Care website: www.churchcare.co.uk/churchyard.php

Shrinking the Footprint website: www.shrinkingthefootprint.org

BTCV's Community Network: www2.btcv.org.uk/display/community_network

Training events from your local Wildlife Trusts. In Oxfordshire this included Berks, Bucks and Oxon Wildlife Trust (www.bbowt.org.uk) and Oxfordshire Nature Conservation Forum (www.oncf.org.uk).

Recruitment of volunteers:

Share vision with, and seek advice from, the church congregation, youth group, Scout troop, local environment groups and local advice/support centres.

Advertise on the Do-it website: www.do-it.org.uk. In Oxfordshire, this was done through Oxfordshire Community and Volunteer Action (www.oxnet.org.uk/volunteer_centre) who also put us in touch with business staff wishing to do a day's volunteering

Contact a university or college student volunteering centre e.g. Oxford Hub (www.oxfordhub.org)

This case study was written by Ruth Conway

Photo credits: St Mary & St John Churchyard project