St Lawrence Churchyard
A LIVING CHURCHYARD
We want our churchyard to be a 'living churchyard'. This doesn't mean that we just let it grow wild - each area is properly managed to encourage different flowers, butterflies, moths and birds.
Some areas of grass are not mown during the summer months - this has enabled a Pyramidal orchid Anacamptis pyramidalis and various wild flowers to grow for the last few years. This also allows caterpillars that feed on the wildflowers and grasses time to pupate. In this way we are trying to conserve and encourage as diverse a range of wildflowers as possible.
There are over one hundred species of wild flowers living here, not to mention grasses, trees, lichens, mosses, fungi and all the living creatures that depend on them. This diversity of wildlife is possible because of the history of the churchyard - it has not been cultivated nor has it been sprayed with herbicides or fertilisers. The church walls and headstones provide the conditions needed by slow-growing lichens, many of which are only found in churchyards in this part of the country.
It is not a nature reserve - we aim to achieve a balance between conserving wildlife and maintaining the churchyard as a fit setting for the church. If you would like to help us maintain the churchyard, a working party meets regularly each month, usually on the 1st Saturday of the month, from 9.30 am onwards, with a break around 11.00 am for some refreshment. The date of the next working party is usually advertised in the noticeboard alongside the footpath to the north of the church.
If you visit please look around and let us know if you see anything unusual or interesting. We would also welcome any comments, questions or suggestions.
Please click on the appropriate word below to see lists of what has been seen in the churchyard.
PLANT NAMES
BIRDS
BUTTERFLIES
MOTHS
LICHENS
The Herts and Middlesex Wildlife Trust has produced a pamphlet about churchyards which you can read by clicking here.
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The coming week...
Weekly Leaflet
Sunday 15th September - The Thirteenth Sunday After Trinity
8.00 am Holy Communion in St Lawrence
President & Preacher: The Revd Peter Waddell
9.30 am Parish Communion with Seekers and Creche in St Lawrence
President: The Revd Peter Waddell
Preacher: The Revd Brian Hibberd
11.15 am Holy Communion in the Tin Church
President & Preacher: The Revd Brian Hibberd
11.30 am Battle of Britain Service in St. Lawrence.
12.30 pm Sunday Lunch Club in the hall
6.30 pm Evening Prayer in St Lawrence
Leader: The Revd Peter Waddell
7.30 pm Discussion on 'Sexuality' in the Tin Church
Monday 16th September
2.15 pm Tiny Tots in the Breakspear Room
7.00 for 7.30 pm Friends Chinese Night at Aroma Kitchen, Katherine Place
7.30 pm Ringing practice in St Lawrence
Tuesday 17th September
10.15 am Tuesday Coffee in the Breakspear Room
12.00 noon Colin Bull’s Funeral at the Crematorium
8.00 pm Mothers’ Union meets in the Breakspear Room (Talk by Bill Hamilton)
Wednesday 18th September
10.30 am Home Communion at Abbeyfield
11.15 am Quiet Reflection in St Lawrence
12.00 noon Holy Communion in St Lawrence followed by light lunch in the Breakspear Room
7.30 pm Praise & Cake in the Tin Church, suggested donation is £3.50 for Malawi project
7.45 pm Choir practice in St Lawrence
Thursday 19th September
10.00am Stan Johnson’s Funeral, St Lawrence Church
5.45 pm Coach leaves for Wycombe Swan from the Lychgate
Friday 20th September
10.00 am Craft Morning in the Tin Church
10.00 am AHAL Coffee in the Henderson Hub, Abbots Langley High St
2.00 pm Ascension Acorns in the Tin Church
2.00 pm Craft & Conversation in the Breakspear Room
6.15 pm Youth Choir practice in the Breakspear Room
Saturday 21st September
Village Autumn Fest
Sunday 22nd September - The Fourteenth Sunday After Trinity
8.00 am Holy Communion in St Lawrence
President & Preacher: The Revd Peter Waddell
9.30 am Parish Communion with Seekers and Creche in St Lawrence
President & Preacher: The Revd Peter Waddell
11.15 am Holy Communion in the Tin Church
President & Preacher: The Revd Peter Waddell
12.45 pm Christening for William Roberts
6.30 pm Evening Prayer in St Lawrence
Leader: The Revd Peter Waddell