Graveyards are special

Graveyards are special – some see them as spooky, haunted spaces, others as comforting places to cherish memories of loved ones, some are attracted to them as open air museums of history or nature. 

Whatever your view, interest in burial grounds seems to be flourishing. People  with a passion for cemeteries are known as ‘taphophiles’ (from the Greek ‘love of tombs’) and the term ‘tomb tourism’ describes visiting burial grounds to admire their architecture or history. Paris’s famous Pere Lachaise cemetery attracts 3.5 million visitors a year and visits to London’s Highgate Cemetery have nearly doubled over the last decade to over 100,000.

Churchyard Champions and local volunteers

The Church of England owns around 19,000 graveyards and the second week of June brings three connected annual campaigns - Churches Count on Nature, Love your Burial Ground Week and National Cemeteries Week.  All are designed to celebrate and promote burial spaces of all denominations and none.

Graveyards are increasingly being curated as places for nature, championed by organisations such as Caring for God’s Acre, the national charity that provides inspiration for managing churchyards sensitively to increase biodiversity.  St James the Great has drawn on its expertise in managing its churchyard as a working burial ground, community space and home for nature.  Take a walk there this month and you will see flowers, butterflies and maybe catch sight of a slow worm.  While interest in churchyards may be flourishing, that often doesn’t translate into interest in doing the work to keep them looking good throughout the year.  Whatever your interest or ability, new members of our Churchyard Champions are always welcome!