Last updated January 2007

Many requests for information about churchyard lichens are received. This fact sheet is an attempt to provide at least some partial answers and to suggest other sources of information.

The Importance of Churchyards:

It is estimated that there are 20,000 churchyards in England alone, each taking up roughly an acre of land. In lowland England, where natural outcrops of rock are absent, the churchyard is the most important site for lichens growing on stone. Some species rarely occur in other habitats. For example, Churchyard Lecanographa, a form of Lecanographa grumulosa is confined to plaster walls on ancient churches in S England. In Britain as a whole, about 700 species (well over a third of the British list) have been found mainly on stone, but also on wood, trees and soil in churchyards, cemeteries and the surrounds of abbeys and cathedrals.

The Churchyards Project:

The Churchyards Project was set up by the British Lichen Society (BLS) in 1990. A sub-committee was formed to deal primarily with data collection, conservation, and research. As a first phase, the focus has been on the churchyard lichens of "the lowland triangle", comprising 35 vice-counties of lowland England (co-ordinator: Ken Sandell). The remaining more upland parts of England have been subdivided into three, each with a co-ordinator, as follows: 1. SW England (Ann Allen), 2. West Midlands & Welsh Borders (Ivan Pedley), 3. Northern England (Don Smith). The co-ordinators for Scotland, Wales and Ireland are, respectively, John Douglass and Peder Anderssen, Ivan Pedley and Mike Simms.

Data Collection:

Surveys of churchyard lichens are carried out regularly by committee members and by other members of the Society. A standard A4 survey sheet is used. On the front, this lists 198 of the more commonly found or characteristic churchyard species and provides room for substratum and habitat details. Beginners who may wish to make use of these 'mapping cards' must note that the species names are shown in an abbreviated form (e.g. Aspi calc for Aspicilia calcarea etc.). The back of the sheet provides space for additional species, for site details and assessment, and for conservation recommendations. The sheet, now on the BLS website from which it can be printed, has recently been revised. It includes a key to essential abbreviations. With regard to the Churchyard Lichens Master Card, if you print copies from the BLS website please used good quality paper and ensure that the pages do not get wet. Inkjet printouts are not recommended because the ink runs and becomes illegible even when damp.

The recorder is asked to make some rough assessment/evaluation rating of the churchyard in the context of the region and to indicate those of national or county importance for conservation purposes.

Copies of completed cards should be sent to Ivan Pedley and to the Mapping Recorder (Prof Mark Seaward). It is essential that, if any doubt exists in regard to the identification of a species, it should be confirmed by an experienced lichenologist before records are passed on. No information is preferable to erroneous information. Currently the biological recording package BioBase is being used to enter this data but a change of recording package is under review. Those who submit cards regularly will be notified personally of new arrangements. If you are willing to help with the immense task of entering the huge backlog of data on to BioBase, please get in touch with Ivan Pedley.

Conservation:

Helped by a grant from English Nature, a leaflet Churchyard Lichens was published in 1994. As well as conservation guidelines, it includes some line drawings by Claire Dalby and brief sections on the biology of lichens, the importance of churchyards, and churchyard habitats. It is available to download from the BLS website. More comprehensive management guidelines on all major lichen habitats including churchyards have been published (Lichen Habitat Management; see Publications at the end of this article). An abbreviated version of these guidelines, ‘Churchyard Lichens and their Conservation’, is now available on the BLS website.

Education:

The BLS formed an Education Committee in late 1994. Six months later a pack of educational projects Exploring Churchyard Lichens was produced and 300 copies were distributed to schools and youth groups such as WATCH for testing. Subsequently, the projects were revised for the BLS Education Committee and adapted for downloading from the BLS website. There are four churchyard projects aimed at older primary and younger secondary school pupils (National Curriculum Key Stages 2 and 3). There are accompanying teachers’ notes, background information and a reference list. Further, more advanced, projects (also available on the BLS website) are aimed at Key Stages 3 and 4, sixth form students and beyond. These include a popular project on ‘Lichens and Air Pollution: Trunks and Twigs’. For further information and guidance on topics please contact Dr. Ann Allen (see Useful Addresses below).

Identification:

Many letters are received from students and interested adults who seek help with identification. They may wish to become involved with the national project, to survey a local churchyard, or to devise an individual project as part of their studies. Frank Dobson's comprehensive general guide Lichens. An Illustrated Guide to the British and Irish Species is now in its fifth edition and includes over half the British lichen species most represented by excellent colour photographs. Frank Dobson has also recently produced a book Field Key to Common Churchyard Lichens (2003), and a Field Studies Council AIDGAP Guide to Common Churchyard Lichens (2004). A sound introductory book by George Baron includes 4 colour plates illustrating 24 species and a short account of the churchyard habitat. Oliver Gilbert's more detailed study also provides invaluable references, while the lavishly illustrated paperback by William Purvis contains suggestions for churchyard projects (see Useful Books below). Frank Dobson has also produced an excellent and easy to use multi-access computer key. Version 3 will be available shortly and contains over 1800 lichen species found in Great Britain and Ireland. It costs £28 (£22 to BLS members) inclusive of postage and is available from his home address (see end of the factsheet). An upgrade for purchasers of the previous version will be available for £13.00 + p&p. Full details of books mentioned above can be found at the end of this factsheet.

Because of the difficulties of identification, it is advisable for the beginner, often with little available time, to seek out projects which do not require identification to species level or are based around one or two easily identifiable species. The surest way to learn the skills of identification is to accompany an experienced lichenologist on field visits. For help with identification please consult the list of Local Lichen Contacts on the BLS website.

Surveys and Courses:

Churchyard committee members and others carry out surveys from time to time usually in their home areas and are generally pleased to have some company. Such surveys are being conducted by Don Smith in Yorkshire, Joy Ricketts in Worcestershire and Herefordshire, Ivan Pedley in The Midlands, and Ken Sandell and Lesley Balfe in Wiltshire. For Scottish churchyards please contact John Douglass. If the opportunity of one-to-one tuition is not forthcoming, the next best thing is to attend a week or weekend course. Details of a number of excellent courses run by the Field Studies Councilare given in their annual brochure available from the headquarters at Preston Montford. Most of these courses cover a range of lichen habitats including churchyards. A leaflet indicating BLS field meetings and courses (and sometimes others) accompanies each BLS Bulletin as an insert and is also available from the BLS Field Meetings Secretary, Simon Davey; details are also on the BLS website.

Hand Lenses:

A hand lens is the one essential piece of equipment. Lenses of 8x or 10x magnification are ideal and obtainable from stamp shops, photographers or opticians or from Brian Green who is handling these and other sale items for the BLS (see BLS website). Prices range from around £2 to over £20. The 18mm 10x glass lens in a metal body is ideal for beginners. Unlike a magnifying glass, a hand lens has to be held close to the eye as well as the object.

Pollution Studies:

Lichens are traditionally linked with pollution studies and more requests for help are received on this subject than on any other. The Hawksworth-Rose Scale links species growing on trees to levels of sulphur dioxide in the atmosphere and although recent improvements in air quality are reducing the importance of this scale it is still a valuable guide. No comparable research has been carried out on lichens growing on stone in churchyards. The distribution of species at any one site is based on so many factors (of which air pollution is just one) that there are no easy answers and direct correlations are almost impossible to achieve. For example, because some lichens live for so long, a species may have established itself a hundred years ago when pollution levels were lower and has managed to survive as a relict population. Calcareous stone surfaces may also help to buffer species from the acidity of pollutants in urban churchyards. Moreover, now that the amounts of sulphur dioxide are very much reduced, nitrogen compounds (from agricultural fertilizers and car exhausts) are now the most significant pollutants responsible for ecological change. Twigs in churchyards may provide lichen indicators (eg Xanthoria parietina) of these changes.

Chemicals:

Parts of some lichens change colour when certain chemicals are applied to them. Two chemicals are suitable for use by beginners for spot tests in the field. These are C (calcium hypochlorite) and a 10% solution of K (potassium hydroxide). Instructions for use are given in Dobson (2005) and Richardson (1992). C is a constituent of most household bleaches obtainable from the local supermarket, while K is available from laboratory suppliers such as Hogg Laboratories Supplies Ltd. Plastic eye-dropper bottles make effective containers. NB: C reactions may be fleeting and are best observed through a hand lens at the moment of application. Both chemicals need to be handled with care, kept in leak-proof, labeled containers and applied in minimal amounts to the appropriate parts of the lichen. If it is the medulla that reacts, a small portion of the cortex must be scraped away with a razor blade. C may need to be replaced after one month and K after 3 months.

Useful Books:

For prices and availability either go to BLS Publications link and/or see Richmond Publishing contact details below.

Baron G. (1999) Understanding Lichens Slough: Richmond Publishing [A useful general introduction.]

Broad K. (1989) Lichens in Southern Woodlands. Forestry Commission Handbook 4. HMSO.

Chalmers N. & Parker P. (1986) The OU Project Guide Field Studies Council

Cooper N. (1995) Wildlife in Church and Churchyard: Plants, Animals and their Management Published for the Council for the Care of Churches by Church House Publishing.

Dobson F. S. (2005) Lichens: An Illustrated Guide to the British and Irish Species 5th full colour edition, Slough: Richmond Publishing.

Dobson F. S. (2005) Guide to Common Urban Lichens 1 (on trees and wood) and 2 (on stone and soil). Field Studies Council/AIDGAP.

Dobson F. S. (2004) Guide to Common Churchyard Lichens. Field Studies Council/AIDGAP.

Dobson F. S. (2003) A Field Key to Common Churchyard Lichens Richmond Publishing.

Fletcher A. (2001) Lichen Habitat Management. British Lichen Society.

Gilbert O.L. (2004) Lichens Naturally Scottish. Scottish Natural Heritage.

Gilbert O.L. (2000) Lichens Collins New Naturalist Series.

Laundon J. (1986) Lichens Shire Publications. [A concise introduction to the biology and ecology of lichens.]

Purvis W. (2000) Lichens LIFE SERIES.The Natural History Museum.

Richardson D. (1992) Pollution monitoring with lichens (Naturalists' Handbooks 19), Slough, Richmond Publishing.

Wolseley P., James P. & Alexander D. (2002) Key to Lichens on Twigs. Field Studies Council/AIDGAP.

The lichen books and OU guides are available from Richmond Publishing Co., P.O. Box 963, Slough, SL2 3RS (tel: 01753 643104; fax: 01543 480068). For up-to-date prices and availability contact Richmond Publishing directly.

The address of Church House Publishing is Church House, Great Smith St., London SW1P 3NZ. The OU guides are also available from FSC.

Useful Articles:

Anon (2006) Churchyard Lichens and their Conservation Available on the BLS web site - go to Churchyard link

Chester T. (1994) Churchyards Project: Quinquennial Report 1990-94. BLS Bulletin No.75 pp.28-33

Chester T. (1997) And Some Fell On Stony Ground - The Saxicolous Churchyard Lichens of Lowland England. British Wildlife Vol.8 No.3 (February 1997) pp. 161-172

Chester T. (1999) Churchyard Project Decennial Report. BLS Bulletin No. 85 pp 23-28

Dennis (1993) The Living Churchyard - Sanctuaries for Wildlife. British Wildlife Vol.4 No.4 (April 1993) pp. 230-241 [A general account of churchyard conservation by the former director of the Living Churchyards & Cemetery Project.]

Useful Addresses:

Email box for general enquiries related to The Churchyard project: [BLS Churchyard Coordinator]

Allen M.A., Dr. (Education Committee) Exeter Diocese [Details Here]

Aspen P. The Wynd, Dalgetty Bay, Fife, Scotland KY11 9SJ.

Balfe L., Mrs. 155 High Street, Ditton Marsh, Westbury, Wilts BA13 4DR.

Blatchley I., Dr. (Conservation in Churchyards) Canterbury Diocese [Details Here]

British Lichen Society Secretary (Scott LaGreca) [Details Here]

Butler M. St Albans Diocese [Details Here]

"Caring for God's Acre" 6 West Street, Leominster, Herefordshire, HR6 8ES (website: www.caringforgodsacre.co.uk). [although primarily concerned with the conservation of churchyards, cemeteries and burial grounds in the Herefordshire Diocese, it has an information pack which is applicable to a wider audience].

Carle I. 57 Castlegate, Jedburgh, Scotland. TD8 6BD

Davey, S.R. (BLS Field Meeting Secretary) Chichester Diocese [Details Here]

Dobson F.S. Guildford Diocese [Details Here]

Douglass J.R. 171 Murray Drive, Stonehouse, Larkhall, Strathclyde, Scotland ML9 3NJ.

Field Studies Council, Head Office, Preston Montford, Montford Bridge, SHREWSBURY SY4 1HW (tel: 01743 850674; fax: 01743 850178)

Green B.R.E., (BLS Publications Sales) [Details Here]

Hogg Laboratories Supplies Ltd, Sloane Street, BIRMINGHAM B1 3BW (tel: 0121 233 1972; fax: 01743 236 7034)

Pedley I.G., Birmingham Diocese [Details Here]

Ricketts J.E. Mrs. Gloucester Diocese [Details Here]

Sandell K.A. Mr. Portsmouth Diocese [Details Here]

Seaward M.R.D. Prof. (BLS Mapping Recorder) [Details Here]

Simms M.J. Dr, Department of Geology, Ulster Museum, Botanic Gardens, BELFAST BT9 5AB (tel: 028 90383133; fax: 028 90383103)(email: [Michael Simms] )

Smith D.H., York Diocese [Details Here]

Wolseley P.A. Mrs (BLS President) [Details Here]

British Lichen Society

Applications for membership may be made to [Mr Scott LaGreca], BLS Secretary, who can provide a prospectus giving current membership details. The prospectus and a membership application form are also available on the BLS web site. The address is: [http://www.theBLS.org.uk]