Students help to create wildflower garden at cathedral

The year 7 pupils from Lichfield Cathedral School took part in a project to create a wildflower meadow in Lichfield Cathedral Close alongside Staffordshire Wildlife Trust as part of a special Forest School session.

Seeds were planted along grassed areas on the south-side of Lichfield Cathedral, which followed a pilot scheme in 2022 where a wildflower area was planted on the north-side of the Cathedral grounds involving Lichfield Cathedral School students.

The work is part of the ongoing initiative to focus more keenly on the environment.

The team raked grassland to the west of St Chad’s Garden, which were already starting to bloom with springtime bulbs from 2020 and which were then sown with wildflower seeds to form a spring meadow.

The area used during repairs to the buttresses and spire will become a summer meadow by next year.

Juno Hart from Lichfield Cathedral said “We are delighted to be involved with this project at Lichfield Cathedral.

"The pupils love being part of this project, not least because they see the progress of their efforts each day as they go to school.

"It is a great addition to our Forest School provision and helps to bring awareness about the environmental impact of wildflowers and meadows.”

The work is being undertaken following environmental advice from Caring for God’s Acre and is part of Lichfield Cathedral’s commitment as a A Rocha Partner in Action.

David Primrose from Lichfield Cathedral said: “In 2022 we achieved our Silver Eco Church Award and we are committed to ‘go for gold’ in the coming year.

"Our commitment at Lichfield Cathedral is to help make a positive impact on the environment for generations to come and the groundwork we are doing is just a small part of our work this year.”