We are compiling this directory of flowery burial grounds from across the UK, which we would recommend visiting if you are looking for a well managed site rich in wildlife and heritage. Burial grounds can have a rich array of plants, animals and fungi, and may contain the only surviving area of flower-rich grassland in a parish. All the sites listed here contain this habitat. To see the flowers at their best, late May to mid or end of July is usually the most suitable time to visit. However, do contact the site managers for more specific timings before you visit if this is important to you.
St Peter’s is a listed Victorian Church in the “arts and crafts” style that has been carefully maintained over the years and is in exceptional and original condition.
The church features in the Simon Jenkins book “England’s Thousand Best Churches” (1999). It was designed by the noted architect John Pollard Seddon and completed in 1875. It has a fine font, pulpit and a beautiful painted ceiling in the chancel. It also features the only church commission undertaken by the famous Martin Brothers pottery.
The parish war memorial stands in front of the church and commemorates twenty men who died for their country in the First World War.
This current church is at least the fourth one to have existed in the parish – the previous churches were on a different site along the lane to the north, where a disused churchyard still exists. The first burial in the current churchyard took place in 1919, and burials continued in the old churchyard until 1945.
The churchyard was created from a meadow in 1875 and is carefully maintained to encourage wildlife and wild flowers. The grass is cut once a year and the cuttings are raked off. They are left in a pile in a quiet corner of the churchyard under trees, so that any insects can make their escape. The grassland is at its best May to July.
The churchyard is also a haven for other wildlife including slowworms, rabbits, magpie, carrion crow, jay, jackdaw, blue tit, great tit, coal tit, nuthatch, chaffinch, goldfinch, robin, blackbird, song thrush, pheasant, red-legged partridge. Overhead skylarks, kites and buzzards are common. We have fallow deer and muntjac if we forget to shut the gate!
Link to records for St Peter’s on the NBN Atlas Burial Ground Portal
- Birders paradise
- Good accessibility
- Lichen haven
- Peaceful space for quiet reflection
- Stones with stories
- Wild flower Areas in spring/summer
- Wildlife haven
There is level access on gravel paths and grass paths mown throughout the summer.
There are three wooden benches in the churchyard with back and arm rests.
The nearest train station is Welwyn Garden City approximately 2.5 miles away. There is a taxi rank outside the station.
The map below will take a few seconds to load. You can search for a burial ground either by county, or by the name of the burial ground, or by clicking the markers on the map.
Add your burial ground.
If you would like to nominate a flowery burial ground that you manage for inclusion in our directory, please complete the form here. We will review all submissions before inclusion in the directory, so please understand you won’t see your burial ground immediately.
