Churchyards and graveyards are important refuges for wildlife while also encapsulating the history of our community. Although some 40% of the UK is covered in grassland, less than 5% of that is 'unimproved', that's to say has not been artificially seeded, ploughed or affected by fertiser and pesticide use.  Historic church graveyards, like that of St James's, can therefore play a vital role in the conservation of widlife and of our heritage.  Management for wildlife needs to be balanced with the other values and uses, past a present, of course, and it's worth noting that churchyards of the past were always a mixture of the well tended and the wild.  The Wildlife Trust Churchyard Conservation Awards encourage the management of these spaces for the benefit of all species, including us. St James's churchyard has a Wildlife Trusts Bronze Award, through the Northants Churchyard Conservation Scheme.

Latest Monthly Wildlife blogs

We produce regular 'Wildlife by the month' nature notes on what you might see in and around the churchyards. Recent 'blogs' include:

• April 2026: Voles, woodmice and Frances Hatton's memorial
• March 2026:  Daffodils, vicars and piles - spring flowers in the churchyard, and  March hares and Easter bunnies

If you'd like to know when the latest blog is released, follow St James's Gretton on Facebook.

Two years of churchyard wildlife: Two years' worth of our  blogs  have been combined into one document : 'Wildlife by the month blogs' 2024-2026. Hard copies of this, along with various brochures, maps and guides, can be found on church noticeboards or just inside the church.

Our surveys and plans:

• Our wild churchyard - some background, maps and lists - including surveys of plants and animals
• Biodiversity plan, 2025-26 - our wildlife priorities for the coming year
• Grass cutting and wildflowers plans, 2025 (upper churchyard)
• Churchyard questionnaire - giving villagers and visitors a voice on how we can improve the churchyard for all users
• Guide to the church and a walk around the churchyard.

Posters (that have been up in the church) about:

• Bats - we have several species of bats flying around the churchyard, along with our own colony of soprano pipstrelles in the porch
• Wild flowers - Around 100 species of wild flowering plants, grasses and trees have been recorded in the churchyard
• Moths - a summary from 2023 and list of macromoths identified
• Some background to our churchyard wildlife.

Useful external websites:

• Caring for God's Acre - a charity for Protecting Wildlife, Preserving Heritage, Involving People providing information on the history and natural history of church yards
• Church of England's advice on wildlife in churchyards 
• Rockingham Forest Vision - connecting local communities to the natural and cultural heritage of Rockingham Forest and raising its local and national profile; connecting the core remaining wooded areas with enriched biodiverse landscapes.