Do you know the excellent Sidmouth Nature website? The VGS is showcasing some of the fabulous stuff we can find there by profiling specific areas – and has already covered The River Sid @ Sidmouth Nature and Glen Goyle @ Sidmouth Nature. Here we look at what the online resource has to offer about Sidmouth and other Sid Valley cemeteries – which is considerable. With huge thanks to the website’s creator Peter Orchard, who haw allowed us to reproduce here some of the text and visuals he’s put together.
The main page on Sidmouth Nature’s Sidmouth Cemetery introduces us to the place – and to the dilemma it faces:
What comes to mind when you think of a cemetery? For most, it’s a place of quiet remembrance, of stone monuments and peaceful reflection. But what if a cemetery could be something more? Here in Sidmouth, our town cemetery has become just that—an unexpected and vibrant nature reserve, where local history and ecology are deeply intertwined.
This transformation has not been without its challenges. The fine line between “rewilding” for nature’s benefit and unintentional neglect has sparked community debate. A recent period where the grounds were left to grow unchecked, described by some as “abandonment,” sadly led to the loss of beloved wildflowers like bluebells, primroses, ladysmock and other flora. This has created a management puzzle: how do we cherish this space for both the departed and the vibrant life that has taken root among them
An excellent pictogram has been put together to illustrate the different layers at work at the cemetery – where there is generous mention of the work of the Cherishing Sidmouth Cemeteries project:
The page dedicated to Sidmouth Cemetery continues with detailed pieces on ‘a Victorian legacy: where trees tell a story’, the ancient green highways, the delicate balance of a wild meadow, and ‘celebrating life, for nature, for the future’.
But there’s more on the website. Sidmouth Cemetery is referred to as one of the several Sidmouth Grasslands; it can be considered as a ‘fungal stronghold’, as it is noted for Waxcaps and Fairy Rings, which are indicators of rare, ancient grazing pasture.
In fact, there is a section devoted to our ‘vanishing meadows’ at Pastures New … and Old and a further mention of the Cemetery at Town Meadows, where we are reminded that much of the area of the site is ‘unimproved grassland’, that is, it hasn’t been ‘improved’ by fertilisers and so is ideal for wild flowers.
Importantly, the Cemetery is included in the Biodiversity Networks which crisscross Sidmouth town – also referred to as ‘green corridors’ in the Neighbourhood Plan. Specifically, it forms part of ‘Sidmouth’s Wildlife Supercluster’ Knapp and Knowle:
The Knapp and Knowle cluster of survey sites is a significant biodiversity network located on the western side of Sidmouth.. It consists of eight interconnected sites, six of which have been thoroughly surveyed, highlighting their varied habitats including grasslands, woodlands, and freshwater sources. The analysis underscores the cluster’s ecological importance, noting that it hosts nearly half of all species recorded in the broader survey, particularly excelling in flowering plants and insects. Detailed descriptions of individual sites like The Knapp Nature Reserve, Peasland Knapp, Knapp Nature Pond, Sidmouth Cemetery, The Knowle, and Bickwell showcase their unique contributions to the cluster’s overall species richness and habitat diversity.
Finally, one of the purposes of the website is to encourage us to engage with our wonderful green sites – and to go a little deeper into their many wonders. So, the page on Work, rest and play: visiting provides several suggested projects – one for Sidmouth Cemetery being a Site Management Comparison Study and another a Cemetery Structure and Flora Analysis.
Do have a dive into the Sidmouth Nature website: there’s so much of interest to explore!
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