About this churchyard
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
Key Features
- Wildflower area
- Wildlife haven
- Peaceful space for quiet reflection
- Lichen haven
- Good accessibility
- Stones with stories
- Birders Paradise
St Peter’s Church
Ayot St Peter
Welwyn
Hertfordshire
AL6 9BG
Visitor Information
Opening Times
The burial ground is open all the time. The church is only open for services, on Heritage Open Day, or by arrangement via the website.
Contact details
Please use the contact tab on the Ayot St Peter website
Accessibility
There is level access on gravel paths and grass paths mown throughout the summer.
Toilets
There is a fully accessible compost toilet in the churchyard, which is open when the church is open.
Seating
There are three wooden benches in the churchyard with back and arm rests.
Parking & Transport
There is a parking area along the lane outside.
The nearest train station is Welwyn Garden City approximately 2.5 miles away. There is a taxi rank outside the station.
Café
The nearest refreshments are the Red Lion PH on the B197 Digswell Hill or the Waggoner’s PH on Brickwall Close, Ayot Green, both about a mile.
