Caring For God's Acre > Burial Grounds to Inspire

Burial Grounds to Inspire

We are pulling together a selection of 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.

All the sites listed here contain flower rich grassland. 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.

This list will be regularly updated. We would love to hear from you if you have enjoyed visiting any of the burial sites or if you have any recommendations of sites that could be featured.

Covid 19 Update – Due to the current situation you may find some churches and facilities are closed.

Select your county:

Ampthill – St Andrew’s

St Andrew's, Rectory Lane, Ampthill MK45 2EL

Bristol – Arnos Vale

Arnos Vale Cemetery Trust, Bath Road, Bristol BS4 3EW

Llandre: St Michael’s Church

St Michael’s Church Llandre Ceredigion SY24 5BZ Wales

Throwleigh – St Mary’s

St Marys, Throwleigh, Okehampton, Devon, EX20 2HU

Westmeston – St Martin’s

ST MARTIN’S CHURCH, LEWES ROAD, WESTMESTON, SUSSEX BN6 8RJ

Clifford’s Mesne: St Peter’s

St Peters Church, Clifford’s Mesne, Newent GL18 1JL

Clitheroe, Dalehead: St James

St James, Hole House Lane, Slaidburn, Clitheroe BB7 4TS

Clitheroe: St. John The Evangelist

St John's Hurst Green, Shire Lane, Shire Ln, Hurst Green, Clitheroe

Carlton Scroop – St Nicholas’

Church of St Nicholas, Carlton Scroop, Grantham NG32 3AX

London – Abney Park Cemetery

Abney Park Cemetery, 215 Stoke Newington High Street, London, N16 0LH.

London – Tower Hamlets Cemetery Park

Tower Hamlets Cemetery Park, Southern Grove, London E3 4PX

Hemblington – All Saint’s Church

All Saints Church, Church Lane, Hemblington Norfolk NR13 4EF

Bethel Methodist Chapel, Lothersdale

Bethel Chapel Lothersdale North Yorkshire. BD20 8HB

Christ Church, Lothersdale

Christ Church, Lothersdale, Stansfield Brow, Lothersdale North Yorkshire. BD20 8EQ

St Andrew, Norton

St Andrew's Church, Norton, Presteigne LD8 2EY

Beulah: Eglwys Oen Duw (Church of the Lamb of God)

Beulah, Llanwrtyd Wells, LD5 4TY

Hyssington: St Etheldreda

St Etheldreda Church, Hyssington, Montgomery, Powys, SY15 6EQ

Llanstephan: St Stephen’s

St Stephen’s Church, Llanstephan, Nr Glasbury, LD3 0YR, Powys

Llanbadarn Fynydd: Maesyrhelem Chapel

Maesyrhelm Baptist Chapel, Llanbadarn Fynydd, LD1 6TU, Powys.

Glasbury: St Peter’s

St Peter and St Cynidr's Church, Glasbury, Herefordshire HR3 5NU

Whitton – St Mary’s

St Mary’s Whitton, Ludlow SY8 3DB

Eaton-Under-Heywood – St Edith’s

St Edith’s Church, Eaton-under-Heywood, Church Stretton SY6 7DH

Hope Bagot – St John the Baptist

St John the Baptist's Church, Hope Bagot, Ludlow SY8 3AF

Weston Lullingfields: Holy Trinity Church

Holy Trinity Church, Weston Lullingfields, Shrewsbury, SY4 2AF

Church Stretton: St Lawrence’s

St Laurence’s Church, Church Street, Church Stretton, SY6 6DQ

Lichfield: St Michael’s

Church Street, Lichfield, Staffordshire, WS13 6ED

Oldberrow: St Mary’s

St.Mary's Oldberrow, Oldberrow, Henley-in-Arden, UK

Heene Cemetery- Worthing

Heene Cemetery, Manor Road, Worthing, West Sussex BN11 4RY

Carlton Scroop – St Nicholas’

Church of St Nicholas, Carlton Scroop, Grantham NG32 3AX

About This Churchyard This churchyard has been managed for its botanical diversity since 1996.  The different habitats within the churchyard attract many different species of wildlife between 2015 and 2018 over 200 species of plants, invertebrates, mammals and birds have been recorded here.  The site is a sensitively managed mix of long and short areas […]

Hemblington – All Saint’s Church

All Saints Church, Church Lane, Hemblington Norfolk NR13 4EF

About This Churchyard The churchyard to the south supports an ancient hay meadow with plant species which may have persisted since at least Anglo Saxon times. The main conservation aim in this area has been to maintain it as a traditional species-rich hay meadow, in the same way it is thought to have been managed […]

Throwleigh – St Mary’s

St Marys, Throwleigh, Okehampton, Devon, EX20 2HU

About This Churchyard Set in a Dartmoor village the Churchyard has areas of wildflowers, ox eye daises, yellow rattle, betony, mallow, some orchids and devils bit scabious in the late summer. Butterflies include marbled white, small pearl bordered fritillary & the day flying Chimney Sweeper moth, indicator of old pasture. CPRE “Best churchyard in Devon” […]

London – Abney Park Cemetery

Abney Park Cemetery, 215 Stoke Newington High Street, London, N16 0LH.

About This Cemetery Abney Park in Stoke Newington, one of the ‘Magnificent Seven’ garden cemeteries of London, a woodland memorial park and Local Nature Reserve (the first statutory Local Nature Reserve to be designated in Hackney) and is managed by the London Borough of Hackney. The site offers the visitor a wealth of ecological riches […]

Whitton – St Mary’s

St Mary’s Whitton, Ludlow SY8 3DB

About This Churchyard The Churchyard at Whitton is managed by a small team of volunteers. There are recorded some 200 different plant species including a spring a carpet of wild daffodils. 78 species of lichen have also been recorded in the churchyard. The northerly meadow is a mass of wild daffodils in the spring, and is […]

London – Tower Hamlets Cemetery Park

Tower Hamlets Cemetery Park, Southern Grove, London E3 4PX

About This Cemetery The Cemetery Park is a Local Nature Reserve (LNR) and conservation area in the heart of East London, managed by the Friends of Tower Hamlets Cemetery Park on behalf of the Council. The cemetery forms part of the Site of Metropolitan Importance for Nature Conservation and is one of London’s Magnificent Seven […]

Lichfield: St Michael’s

Church Street, Lichfield, Staffordshire, WS13 6ED

About This Churchyard St Michael’s Churchyard is located on Greenhill in the Southern part of Lichfield. It is much older than the Church itself, and thought to date back to pre-Christian times. It covers a 9 acre area, making it one of the 5 largest churchyards in England. The natural features of St Michael’s Churchyard […]

Oldberrow: St Mary’s

St.Mary's Oldberrow, Oldberrow, Henley-in-Arden, UK

  About This Churchyard St Mary’s, Oldberrow in the Coventry Diocese, a small Victorian restoration on a thirteenth century site, has an unspoilt species-rich churchyard where the native flora has been flowering and setting seed for centuries.  In the spring there is a profusion of cowslips and through the summer, knapweeds, scabious, betony, quaking grass […]

St Andrew, Norton

St Andrew's Church, Norton, Presteigne LD8 2EY

About This Churchyard This beautiful churchyard is under half a hectare in size and is a treat to visit in the summer when the meadow areas are in full bloom. Flowers include harebell, pignut, burnet-saxifrage, knapweed, yarrow, heath bedstraw, meadow vetchling and vetches. In autumn the front part of the graveyard is covered in masses […]

Beulah: Eglwys Oen Duw (Church of the Lamb of God)

Beulah, Llanwrtyd Wells, LD5 4TY

About this churchyard This lovely churchyard is under a quarter of a hectare in size and is a level site surrounded by hedgerows. A search of the biological records within the National Biodiversity Network Atlas from the 1km square that encompasses this churchyard contains 342 species. These are mainly bird records with lots of woodland […]

Hyssington: St Etheldreda

St Etheldreda Church, Hyssington, Montgomery, Powys, SY15 6EQ

About This Churchyard St Etheldreda’s is a fantastic churchyard of great antiquity. The veteran yews, veteran oak and curved shape to the wall all suggest a pre-Christian or early Christian sacred space. The churchyard and church are both regularly visited and are well loved locally; the veteran trees, old walls, abundant wildflowers and beautiful location […]

Llandre: St Michael’s Church

St Michael’s Church Llandre Ceredigion SY24 5BZ Wales

About This Churchyard St Michael’s Church is at the head of a picturesque valley where a small stream runs steeply through the woodland. The graveyard and woodland are rich in biodiversity and there are short walks introducing visitors to the natural, cultural and creative heritage of this site. The lower graveyard (about 2 hectares in […]

Llanstephan: St Stephen’s

St Stephen’s Church, Llanstephan, Nr Glasbury, LD3 0YR, Powys

About This Churchyard Located near the crest of the hill, with extensive views SE over the Wye Valley, this beautiful churchyard is quite a treasure. The ovoid churchyard is 0.5 hectares, well managed and has two notable and four veteran yews. The grassland is quite species rich and, along with the more common ox-eye daisies, […]

Llanbadarn Fynydd: Maesyrhelem Chapel

Maesyrhelm Baptist Chapel, Llanbadarn Fynydd, LD1 6TU, Powys.

About This Chapel yard Maesyrhelem Chapel has a small and beautiful burial ground. The burial ground is 0.3 hectares, well managed and open for burials. The immediate habitat surrounding the site is woods, open fields and one minor road. The grassland survey found some lovely species such as quaking grass, crosswort, heath bedstraw, devil’s-bit scabious […]

Glasbury: St Peter’s

St Peter and St Cynidr's Church, Glasbury, Herefordshire HR3 5NU

About This Churchyard St Peter’s churchyard is situated in an elevated position with fine views across the valley. It is about 1.4 hectares with a gradient towards the road on the West and surrounded by dry stone walls. There are 11 stunning Yew trees on site, 6 of which are listed as ‘notable’ on the […]

Bristol – Arnos Vale

Arnos Vale Cemetery Trust, Bath Road, Bristol BS4 3EW

About this cemetery Arnos Vale Cemetery is a beautiful 45-acre Garden Cemetery nestled in a Grade 2 Listed landscape. It was set up in 1839 the first cemetery in the South West of England. The cemetery was also the first place in the South West to undertake cremations (1929-1989) and still has the original historic […]

Heene Cemetery- Worthing

Heene Cemetery, Manor Road, Worthing, West Sussex BN11 4RY

About this cemetery Designated a Sussex Site of Nature Conservation Importance, this closed cemetery is an oasis for wildlife in an urban area. An abundance of grasses and herbs more usually associated with unimproved old meadows can be seen during the spring and summer.  Autumn brings an array of fungi and mosses and winter allows […]

Eaton-Under-Heywood – St Edith’s

St Edith’s Church, Eaton-under-Heywood, Church Stretton SY6 7DH

About this churchyard You will find St Edith’s Church at the end of the road, tucked into Wenlock Edge, a wonderfully peaceful spot.  Parts of the building date back to the 12th Century and there is a grade II listed slab tomb in the churchyard. This sloping site is a haven to wildlife and has […]

Hope Bagot – St John the Baptist

St John the Baptist's Church, Hope Bagot, Ludlow SY8 3AF

About this churchyard St John the Baptist is an ancient church built next to a venerable yew which has survived since the Roman occupation and a holy well. The churchyard has been traditionally managed as a species rich grassland for many years and is left to flower until late July when it is scythed and […]

Westmeston – St Martin’s

ST MARTIN’S CHURCH, LEWES ROAD, WESTMESTON, SUSSEX BN6 8RJ

About this churchyard The parish church of St Martin’s church dates from the 12th Century,  it stands on a slight rise off the Lewes Road. The walls are flint, plastered in part, with sandstone dressings; the roofs have tiles on the north and chiefly Horsham slates on the south. It has an area of  neutral […]

Ampthill – St Andrew’s

St Andrew's, Rectory Lane, Ampthill MK45 2EL

About this churchyard St Andrew’s Church Ampthill has Saxon origins but the current church dates from the 15th century when Sir John Cornwall, a hero of Agincourt, paid to extend and expand the church to its current size. The church contains the grave and memorial to Richard Nicolls who named New York after his friend […]

Weston Lullingfields: Holy Trinity Church

Holy Trinity Church, Weston Lullingfields, Shrewsbury, SY4 2AF

About This Churchyard The churchyard is the only example in Weston Lullingfileds of permanent ungrazed grassland amongst arable and improved grassland fields. There are pockets of alkaline soil which means calcium loving plants like Quaking-grass and Rough Hawkbit are present. The grassland is best in spring and early summer when the primroses, pignut and common […]

Bethel Methodist Chapel, Lothersdale

Bethel Chapel Lothersdale North Yorkshire. BD20 8HB

  About This Chapel Graveyard Lothersdale is a peaceful rural village located in North Yorkshire. The village follows along the line of picturesque beck and valley, overlooked by farmsteads on the hills above. The Pennine Way runs through Lothersdale and village contains many historical buildings, such as Stone Gappe Hall. Charlotte Bronte was employed here […]

Christ Church, Lothersdale

Christ Church, Lothersdale, Stansfield Brow, Lothersdale North Yorkshire. BD20 8EQ

About This Churchyard Lothersdale is a peaceful rural village located in North Yorkshire. The village follows along the line of picturesque beck and valley, overlooked by farmsteads on the hills above. The Pennine Way runs through Lothersdale and village contains many historical buildings, such as Stone Gappe Hall. Charlotte Bronte was employed here as nursery […]

Clifford’s Mesne: St Peter’s

St Peters Church, Clifford’s Mesne, Newent GL18 1JL

About this churchyard St Peter’s church is the focal point of Clifford’s Mesne, a small village near the market town of Newent in north-west Gloucestershire.   The church was built in 1882 on an area of common land (some of the common survives, adjoining the churchyard to the north, and is used for the village fete […]

Clitheroe, Dalehead: St James

St James, Hole House Lane, Slaidburn, Clitheroe BB7 4TS

About This Churchyard This lovely churchyard and is a level site surrounded by drystone walls. It was developed here in 1930s following flooding of the old village of Stocks in Bowland by Stocks Reservoir. Bodies were brought from the old churchyard and reburied here. Those whose remains could not be identified are buried in a […]

Clitheroe: St. John The Evangelist

St John's Hurst Green, Shire Lane, Shire Ln, Hurst Green, Clitheroe

About This Churchyard There are  two churchyards – the older one surrounding the church, and the newer one across the road. Both churchyards are managed for the benefit of wildlife, with a limited mowing regime to encourage biodiverse flora and fauna. A bioblitz in 2018 reported over 350 species! There is a wildflower meadow in […]

Church Stretton: St Lawrence’s

St Laurence’s Church, Church Street, Church Stretton, SY6 6DQ

  About This Churchyard Our aim is for St Laurence’s churchyard to be a sanctuary, an extension, if you like, of the building itself within and for the community.  It has multiple uses: for peace and quiet (the benches are often occupied, especially on a sunny afternoon); as a wildlife haven; for access with many […]