Spring Flowers in a Country Churchyard and Garden Wildlife

Last week the weather was so lovely that I decided to visit the churchyard of St Giles, Packwood to see what Spring flowers I could find.

St Giles dates back to the 13th century and is dedicated to St Giles, the Patron Saint of beggars and the lame. Those of you who have been visiting my blog for some years will probably remember the church as it is one I visit quite often.

Timothy enjoying the Spring sunshine.

Lesser Celandine

Primroses

Early Dog Violet

I discovered a useful tip recently to distinguish between Early Dog and Common Dog Violet. In the former the spur behind the flower is the same colour or darker than the petals and in the latter the spur is a pale cream.



Aubretia flowering by the church porch had

a bee fly hovering around it - my first sighting this year. Sorry for the rubbish photo I just could not get close to it.

Daffodils galore

The porch contained jars of Spring flowers and hearts with flowers.

Lichen on the church gate

This is a memorial to Graham Baron Ash who died 20th February 1980 and his parents. The family lived at Packwood House and Graham Baron Ash gave it to the National Trust.

Old scratch or mass dial

There is an hour on Twitter every week dedicated to #AnimalsinChurches with a different theme every week. The main idea is to tweet photos of animals real and imaginary that are seen in churches and churchyards. Thoughts of this hour prompted me to take this photo.

Sadly, I failed to see any butterflies in the churchyard although I did see a Brimstone in the lane as I approached St Giles.




Garden Wildlife

The first bee flies are appearing in the garden too along with a variety of bumble bees. I haven't yet put my moth trap out but moths seen include Common Quaker and Emmelina monodactyla.

The first frogspawn appeared in the garden pond on 24th March. Strangely this year I have seen very little frog activity and there is less spawn than usual. I do wonder if the Common Newts (of which there are dozens) have been eating all the frog tadpoles over the years and the pond frog population has declined.


I spotted a Speckled Wood yesterday by the new mini greenhouse on the patio - sorry rubbish photo again I could not get close.

Frogspawn

Blue Tits are nesting in a nest box - we have managed to replace the nestbox camera so hopefully I will be able to post a few photos for you to see the progress. House Sparrows are nesting in a hole in the roof and Blackbirds have been seen collecting nesting material.




After St Giles I paid a brief visit to the gardens at nearby Packwood House but I will do a separate post.

All photos taken by me with the Panasonic Lumix FZ330 bridge camera

In Search of Primroses and "A Frog he Would a Wooing Go"

Most years just before Easter I visit a local churchyard to see the display of wild primroses. My usual destination is St Giles, Packwood, where, if you time it right, there is a stunning display with a carpet of primroses covering the churchyard. Unfortunately, I had forgotten Easter was early this year and discovered that, although a few clumps were already flowering, it was too early for the main display.

Behind the fence is Packwood Hall which is next to the church. The hall, now privately owned, dates back to the 17th century and has a moat. Edith Holden of The Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady fame visited there on 24th February, 1906, and picked a bunch of snowdrops from the church and was shown a lamb by the farmer at the hall.

St Giles

St Giles dates back to the 13th century and is dedicated to St Giles, the Patron Saint for beggars and the lame, and today the church is always left unlocked allowing it to be used as a place of refuge for those in need.

Sara Ford from nearby Packwood married Michael Johnson at this church in 1706. Their son Samuel was to become a famous literary figure and dictionary author.

A lovely feature of this churchyard is that, although the area near recent graves is kept tidy, the area where the older graves are located is left to its own devices and nature has taken over with ferns, brambles, ivy etc. scrambling over the ancient tombs and gravestones. It is a real haven for wildlife and over 100 species of wild flower have been recorded here.

A few clumps of snowdrops, now past their best, remain and Lesser Celandines are starting to flower - sprinkled over the grass like golden stars.

Celandines also known as Pilewort have been used to make an ointment to treat haemorrhoids. Local names for this harbinger of Spring include Golden Guineas, , brighteye, butter and cheese, cream and butter and starflower. In the Language of Flowers this plant stands for "joys to come" referring to its appearance so soon after Winter. It was William Wordsworth's favourite flower and he asked for it to be engraved on his tombstone. Unfortunately the stonemason carved a Greater not Lesser Celandine!



I couldn't see any violets yet and just a few clumps of primroses were starting to flower.

In folklore Primroses are a symbol of youth and it is thought they are lucky in love and marriage

A memorial to Graham Baron Ash and his parents who once owned Packwood House before the latter passed it on to the National Trust.

This gravestone has some interesting carvings. Cut flowers can symbolise a life cut down in its prime and a hand with a pointing finger can imply divine presence. I'm not sure what the ears of wheat signify.

This tombstone always fascinates me- it makes you wonder if you leant on it or pushed it would it give way and open and entrance to the Burdett vault!

And this is the vault behind.

A blocked up priest's door

A few more old tombstones and graves.

Sundial on the Tower

This a mass or scratch dial. Centuries ago a stick was inserted in the hole to act as a primitive sundial or clock so that the time of masses could be calculated.

The Tower of Atonement

Nicholas Brome from nearby Baddesley Clinton who committed two murders - his father's killer in 1471 and, as mentioned in the past, the priest of Baddesley Church in 1483 when he found him in the parlour "chocking his wife under ye chinne". His atonements for evil deeds included arranging for the construction of the tower at St Giles.



On the way home I drove past Packwood House to see if the roadside daffodils were yet flowering. Again, I was too early - some are out but many of the plants still contain buds.

If I get chance I will return.




Garden Frogs

Garden frogs spawned last week starting on the 13th March although we are a little worried about the effects of below freezing temperatures at the weekend.