Local Wildlife Site

Accessible Sites of Importance for Nature Conservation

St John's Old Burial Ground, Wembley
Borough: Brent
Grade: Borough Grade II
Access: Free public access (all/most of site)
Area: 1.21 ha

Description

St John’s is the parish church of Wembley, and was built in the 1840s. It has a relatively large churchyard, with the graves set among grass and scattered trees. It preserves the atmosphere of a country churchyard, especially towards the far end where the traffic noise is muffled.

Wildlife

The grassland supports a range of common but colourful wild flowers, including creeping jenny and cuckooflower. The latter is plentiful in the churchyard, though generally rare in inner London.Several of the trees planted in the churchyard are worth a closer look. A small-leaved lime can be seen in the far right hand corner. This was one of the most abundant trees when Britain's climate was warmer some 5,000 to 8,000 years ago, but it needs a hot summer to produce fertile seed, so when temperatures cooled its abundance declined and it is now one of Britain's rarer wild trees. A fine oak tree grows nearby, and there are also several ash and false-acacia trees in the churchyard. Two fig trees to the east of the church produce fruit, with the large one near the path particularly prolific.To the north of the church is an old garden, surrounded by scrub and trees. Green and great spotted woodpeckers are frequently seen and heard, as well as bullfinches and chaffinches.

Facilities

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