A group of Hatherleigh nature lovers recently worked to improve biodiversity in the town’s churchyard by planting extra wildflowers and building a new Devon hedgebank.

Hatherleigh residents took the opportunity to encourage more wildlife to the area after building work on the church tower resulted in substantial soil displacement. After using the piles of soil to fill in sunken ground in the churchyard, they decided to cover the resulting bare earth with new patches of wildflowers. The remaining clay soil was used to create a new section of Devon hedgebank to improve privacy and provide additional wildlife habitats.

Devon Wildlife Trust provided the wildflower seed as part of its Wilder Communities project, which encourages people to come together to create better green spaces for wildlife in their community. The wildlife charity also donated 80 tree saplings for the Devon hedgebank through its Northern Devon Natural Solutions project, which helps landowners and farmers create more sustainable environments.

Resident Jo Pullin said: “We had 12 or 15 maybe volunteers just turn up. I put messages out, and people just rocked up. We had people scattering seeds and raking them in, planting the hedge, and putting on the tree guards.

“It was dry, and everyone wrapped up. Nobody froze to death and one of the volunteers brought a tray of flapjack to share around. It was just a lovely community event.”

The hedgebank will take years to become properly established, and residents hope that all the saplings will take, but are ready to fill in any gaps should a sapling fail to grow.

The Devon Wildlife Trust charity was established 60 years ago and aims to protect Devon’s wildlife and natural environment.

For more information, visit: https://www.devonwildlifetrust.org/