For the Sustainable Witham Friary group the answer is yes.
We are not suggesting that the village is ‘re-wilded’, just that borders, any unused space or awkward little corners are made into havens for insects, birds and small mammals. This could be applied to gardens, verges, the play patch, the recreation field and the churchyard. Having recently walked around the churchyard in Witham Friary I could not help but be impressed by the biodiversity and the efforts made to increase the number and range of plants which in turn provide food and shelter to many invertebrates, the key to any healthy ecosystem.
Examples include stones placed in sheltered but open areas to provide sunning spots for lizards, tiles placed against a wall to create shade for amphibians, grass left un-mowed in order to create small areas of wild flower meadow, other areas of grass mown, but sparingly (rather than to create a bowling green effect).
The number and range of trees in the churchyard creates a small woodland (dare I say a village arboretum) with some worthy of special mention. Trees such as the Alder buckthorn (the larval foodplant for Brimstone butterflies) the horse chestnut planted for the millennium, the silver birch planted by the WI for the queens silver jubilee in 1975, the box, the row of tall elegant limes
on the rear boundary and the ancient yew trees scattered throughout the graveyard. These trees provide food for some species, protection for others but all have a role to play in the ecosystem that is our small bit of planet earth. In relation to churchyards we might want to consider questions such as ‘is the church there to be a home for bats or to be place of Christian worship?’, ‘is the churchyard a place of burial or a place for life and vigour?’ Maybe it can be all of these things. The same could apply to the play patch and the recreation field; are they areas for play and sport for us and our children or could we start to make them into ‘play’ areas for a far wider range of living things? The overall effect of the churchyard is of a vibrant living space for wildlife.
Take your pick of all it has to offer - a place of quiet contemplation; of memories, of prayer and of hope. So, yes maybe it does look a bit untidy but let’s see it differently; as an opportunity to promote species and species health and maybe other areas of the village could mirror the approach taken in the churchyard.
By Maddy Ferrari