Projects
Roll of Honour
The first major project undertaken by The Friends was the conservation of the Roll of Honour.
Details of the conservation, the history of the Roll and the ongoing work in connection with the names on the Roll can be found under the ‘Roll of Honour’ tab.
Habitat and Heritage
The Friends were awarded a grant by Environment Wales to commission a flora and fauna survey of the churchyard which was carried out in 2015. This was the first step along a long road to assess the churchyard as a site of safe public green space. The project seeks to safeguard the environment of the plants and animals that live in the churchyard while at the same time promoting enjoyment of the space by the local community. The area is an ideal resource for encouraging greater understanding of wildlife and biodiversity. Bird, bat and swift boxes have been put up and it is hoped to put up a bug house made to encourage the various insects, including bees, that live in the churchyard. That is the habitat side of the coin.
The other side is the heritage aspect of the churchyard. St Augustine’s was the site for burials in Penarth before the opening of Penarth Cemetery and contains many old and interesting graves. Sadly, many of these graves and tombs are decaying and in a dangerous condition. The slope of the ground, fallen and leaning kerbs and stones make it difficult to walk around the graveyard and this is an issue that will also be tackled.
Work has begun on the churchyard and necessary safety work carried out on the trees. A path has been cut between the graves on the south of the church. There is an information board by the west gate giving details of the work as it progresses.
Joseph Parry’s grave has been conserved and cleaned.
The details of all burials in the churchyard from 1813 to 1998 have been entered onto the Burial Grounds Management System (BGMS) site which is run by Atlantic Geomatics. Images of the memorials have been linked to as many graves as possible. The site has now gone live. To access the St Augustine’s BGMS site please click on the link below or copy and past into your browser.
https://penarth.burialgrounds.co.uk
We are grateful to the Allchurches Trust, the Heritage Lottery Fund and the Diocese of Llandaff for their support and encouragement.
A group of about 40 volunteers carries out work in the churchyard and their efforts are paying off. A Zoology undergraduate from Swansea University used a study of the success of the management of the churchyard as part of her Final Year Dissertation, Examining the increase of invertebrates in the churchyard she found 115 species, about 20 more than in 2015. This will help to increase the number and variety of birds, bats and mammals that feed on the invertebrates.
The volunteers meet on Tuesday afternoons from 2-4pm. If you would like to join these volunteers please contact Debbie Court (djcourt@hotmail.com). Safety equipment and some tools are provided but please bring your own secateurs, shears etc. if you have them.