Help & Guidance

A burial ground has many different areas which need maintenance – find the help you need here Grassland, Meadows, Fungi Trees & Hedgerows Wildlife Stonework & Monuments Community Pesky Plants & Animals

Creative Writers Sought to Remember Birmingham’s Poor

The memorials you see as you walk around burial sites are often erected by those that could afford them. This is the case in Birmingham’s Jewellery Quarter, where visitors to Key Hill cemetery can see memorials to non-conformists such as Harriet Martineau, Joseph Chamberlain and Alfred Bird (inventor of Bird’s custard). The vast majority of those buried here, however, are in public […]

Our Digital Ancestors: Tales from Warstone Lane Cemetery

After 5 years of hard work by Caring for God’s Acre volunteers, photos and inscriptions for nearly every memorial in Warstone Lane Cemetery Birmingham have been added to the interactive map created by AG Intl, so now the public portal can go live for everyone to explore! This map will be a wonderful resource for genealogists, local historians and cemetery volunteers. Celebrate the success of the project and learn some of the tales uncovered along the way. The speakers are Dr Josie Wall and Dr Rachel Askew, both from Caring for God’s Acre Our Digital Ancestors project.

Our Digital Ancestors Goes North!

The Our Digital Ancestors team has just returned from an exciting trip to Durham and Newcastle upon Tyne to look at some of the great work that’s taking place there. First up was Durham University, where we gave a talk to undergraduates on the Cemeteries and Communities course about our work.

LOOKING FOR SLOW-WORMS & OTHER REPTILES OR AMPHIBIANS

Churchyards, chapel yards and cemeteries can be great places for both reptiles, such as snakes and lizards, and amphibians such as frogs, toads and newts. You may see lizards basking in the sun on walls or monuments or perhaps a frog or toad hunting in a cool, damp corner or rotting wood pile. To find […]

A Parliament of Rooks  

If you are feeling in need of an uplifting sign of spring then take a visit to your nearest rookery. Although most bird species start to display, build nests and lay eggs in March, April or May, rooks and other members of the Corvid family are well underway by February with some starting in January. […]

Article on Caring for God’s Acre in the Guardian Christmas 2024

Over Christmas we were delighted that the Guardian printed an article about the value of churchyards as “vital havens for rare wildlife including dormice, bats and beetles”. The article, by environment reporter Helena Horton, focused on Caring for God’s Acre’s partnerships with the National Biodiversity Network and many other conservation organisations. As well as specialist […]

Exploring Biodiversity during Churches Count on Nature: A Day of Moths, Ancient Trees, and Medicinal Plants at St. Mary’s Churchyard

We interviewed John Burditt from St. Mary’s Churchyard in Offwell, Devon, to learn about their experience during their Churches Count on Nature day held on Wednesday, June 12th. Their aim was to introduce local pupils to the rich biodiversity in the churchyard, with a particular focus on moths, ancient trees, and medicinal plants. The entire […]

Ten Hedgehog Hazards in Churchyards and Cemeteries

A Call to Protect Our Prickly Friends Hedgehogs are facing a tough time and their numbers are declining. According to the latest State of Britain’s hedgehogs report, numbers of hedgehogs have fallen by up to 30% in urban areas and 50% in rural areas since 2000 Although cemeteries and churchyards can be welcoming spaces for these prickly and […]

Autumn webinar series – Seeking Sanctuary – conserving amphibians and reptiles in burial grounds

Amphibians and reptiles have a special place in many of our hearts – perhaps stemming from fond childhood memories of collecting tadpoles in jars, or the thrill of catching a glimpse of a lizard as it disappears into a stone wall. Burial grounds are perhaps not an obvious place to find amphibians and reptiles, but […]

The Quiet Garden Movement

We spoke with Sarah Jane Godson, Charity Co-ordinator of The Quiet Garden Movement to learn a little more about the charity. How many Quiet Gardens are there and where can they be found? There are 254 quiet gardens worldwide. Whilst most are hosted in private homes we also have gardens in schools, retreat centres, places […]

The Graveyard Shift

This month’s blog post is reproduced here by kind permission of the author, Non Morris, and http://www.theenglishgarden.co.uk/