Hedwigia ciliata var leucophaea Growing on a church roof in Monmouthshire (Photo by Mark White from https://www.britishbryologicalsociety.org.uk/learning/species-finder/hedwigia-ciliata/)

Dear Readers, in this month’s copy of British Wildlife there’s a wonderful tale of creativity and sustainability which brought a smile to my face, and I hope it will do the same for you. The sandstone roof tiles of churches in the Welsh Marches are home to some of the UK’s rarest mosses, and in particular St James church in Llangua has the UK’s largest population of the Nationally Rare Fringed Hoar-moss (Hedwigia ciliata var leucophaea), along with the Nationally Scarce Hoary Grimmia (Grimmia laevigata) and Flat-Rock Grimmia (Grimmia ovalis).

Hedwigia ciliata var. leucophaea (Photo by Clare Halpin from https://www.britishbryologicalsociety.org.uk/learning/species-finder/hedwigia-ciliata/)

Grimmia laevigata (Photo by Sharon Pilkington from https://www.britishbryologicalsociety.org.uk/learning/species-finder/grimmia-laevigata/)

Grimmia ovalis (Photo by Sharon Pilkington at https://www.britishbryologicalsociety.org.uk/learning/species-finder/grimmia-ovalis/)

The church was purchased by Friends of Friendless Churches, who restore closed historic places of worship in England and Wales. I imagine they were delighted to learn that their conservation work was going to be impacted by a bunch of mosses, but to their eternal credit they worked together with local ecologists, Monmouthshire County Council, the conservation architect Andrew Faulkner, and the conservation builders Jones and Fraser to preserve the mosses.

The church needed to be re-roofed, and during this period it would be covered with a large tent. The rare mosses need direct sunlight, and in its absence all sorts of other plants would grow up in the damp, dark atmosphere, and the mosses would be overwhelmed. After a bit of head-scratching, it was decided to build a wooden frame for 200 of the moss-covered tiles, which would be positioned at the same slope and aspect as the original roof.

The mosses thrived in their new ‘home’ – they are drought-resistant so they were basically allowed to just get on with their lives. Then, when the roof was ready to be retiled, mossy tiles were positioned at various places. As the mosses reproduce vegetatively, in a few years the whole roof should be mossy again.

The whole story of the restoration of St James, Llangua, can be found here, (and do look at the Repair Scrapbook) and it was a truly fascinating story of conservation, both of a building and of its ecosystem. Our churches and graveyards are often havens for the natural world, and places of great peace. It’s wonderful to see them being restored and looked after in such a considered way.