Citizen science for historic places

Discover the wildlife hiding in historic churchyards.

Wild Churchyards maps birds, bats and biodiversity in old churchyards — places where heritage, ancient trees and quiet grassland shelter surprising wildlife.

Explore … sites Get in touch

Who is it for?

Wild Churchyards is built around three groups of people — and we need all of them.

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Church communities

Is your church on the map? Add photos, share local history, and help us understand what wildlife your churchyard already supports. No expertise needed.

Add my church →
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Volunteers & recorders

Help survey a churchyard near you. We train volunteers to deploy passive audio recorders for birds and bats — no experience needed, just enthusiasm.

Volunteer →
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Wildlife groups & researchers

Partner with us to build county-wide biodiversity data. All our data is open. We're looking for groups who want to bring the survey to their area.

Partner with us →

Churchyards are some of our most overlooked wildlife places.

Many are over-managed, but they often contain old trees, old stone, quiet corners and grassland that has escaped intensive use for centuries.

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Old trees and hidden habitat

Yews, stone walls, hedges and undisturbed edges support birds, insects, bats and fungi that are disappearing elsewhere.

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Heritage meets ecology

Each site has a human story and a wildlife story. We want to bring both together in one place the community can actually use.

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Data for better management

Better records mean better decisions — lighter mowing schedules, habitat patches and wildlife-friendly churchyards that benefit everyone.

Our first bold goal: record every church in Oxfordshire.

We want at least one good day and night of biodiversity recording at every church — building a county-wide picture of what lives in these historic places. Then we do it again in the next county.

Project milestones
374 churchyards mapped across Oxfordshire
Community platform live — photos, history & notes
Passive audio monitoring in deployment
Bat and habitat survey programme
Expand to neighbouring counties
Open full map →

How it works

1

Find your local church

Browse … mapped sites across Oxfordshire by village, denomination or churchyard type on the interactive map.

2

Add what you know

Create a free account to upload photos, write local history, and add habitat or accessibility notes to any church page.

3

Help us listen

Get in touch to volunteer for a survey, request a recorder for your churchyard, or bring your wildlife group on board.

Ready to get involved?

Drop us a line — whether you're a church warden, a birdwatcher, a local naturalist group, or just curious. We're a small team and we reply personally.

⛪ My church is here Add, claim or correct it 🎙️ I want to volunteer Surveys or recording help 🤝 Partner with us Groups & organisations
or
Create a free account to start contributing