There has been the perception of late that the Management Plan for Sidmouth Cemetery still isn’t working – as shown by photos over the summer months of large areas of brown across the site. However, there have been efforts in managing the Cemetery’s grass for […]

After some months of work, it feels as though the Management Plan for Sidmouth Cemetery still isn’t working – although, looking at how things are handled in other cemeteries, managing the Cemetery’s grass shouldn’t be an impossible task. Yes, it’s a matter of balance but it does seem, then, that there […]

Over the last weeks, the Cherishing Sidmouth’s Cemeteries social media pages have been looking at how other cemeteries have been dealing with invasive long grass – some more successfully than others: Managed sensitively, this lovely old meadow grassland can enhance the burial site for visitors, […]

Of late, there has been discussion amongst members of the Cherishing Sidmouth’s Cemeteries working party about carrying out a controlled trial of yellow rattle. This is often used to suppress the growth of grass – which it can do effectively, but it has to be […]

Sidbury and Sidmouth cemeteries are basically sited on former meadowland – and something the Cherishing Sidmouth’s Cemeteries project would like to see would be enabling the dormant meadow flowers to flourish through careful management of the dominant grass. There are other notable areas – such […]

One of the main projects at Sidmouth Cemetery is to increase the biodiversity on the site – and in early spring the Sidmouth Scouts lent a hand in cutting back the very invasive bramble which keep pretty much everything else out. In early summer (and […]

The Cherishing Sidmouth Cemeteries project is very much about marrying ‘the human and the natural’ – both the manmade history and the natural history of these special sites in the Sid Valley. It’s about nature: Cemeteries can be a haven for nature and wildlife as […]

The charity Caring For God’s Acre is keen to celebrate wildlife in our churchyards. Ed Dolphin put together a report on the excellent survey work carried out in the Sid Valley in mid June: Beautiful Burial Grounds and Count On Nature Week have come together, […]

The Cherishing Sidmouth Cemeteries project was set up, largely because it was felt that the Management Plan for Sidmouth Cemetery isn’t working – as commented late last year, “it has been disastrous, whether you are looking for a wildlife haven or a tidy resting place where families can visit […]

The Devonshire Association likes to visit cemeteries – for example, a visit last year to Plymouth Orthodox Synagogue and its cemetery. The Botany Section is also interested in cemeteries – and also last year it organised a field trip to The Knapp Nature Reserve, Sidmouth – which it noted […]