Local Wildlife Site

Wildlife

A substantial area of scrub in the northwest of the cemetery consists largely of goat willow, with regenerating ash and sycamore saplings, and some bramble and hawthorn. There is a good diversity of common grassland wildflowers along the paths. Secondary non-native woodland covers almost half of the site and is dominated by sycamore, ash, ivy and bramble. Herb-rich grassland in the rides supports species such as meadow vetchling, red clover and common knapweed, the former an uncommon species in Southwark. In the north-east corner is another area of flower-rich grassland with older, tightly-packed graves. Here species such as bird's foot trefoil and red clover are frequent. The cemetery's north-west area consists largely of goat willow, regenerating ash and sycamore, pedunculate oak and horse chestnut, as well as a large area of roughland. Scarlet pimpinelle and enchanted nightshade (two ancient woodland indicators) have also been recorded here. The remainder of the cemetery grounds are dominated by species-poor amenity grassland that is closely-mown on a regular basis, limiting its value to wildlife. Stag beetle, house sparrow and the common blue butterfly have all been recorded at this site, as well as other invertebrates such as the buff-tailed and tree bumblebee and meadow brown butterfly. The range and maturity of habitats within the cemetery is also likely to support foraging and roosting bats as well as a wide range of breeding birds.

Facilities

Sculptures/ monuments; historic features