Brothers’ Cemetery open day shows biodiversity flourishing

With talks throughout the day, the Brothers’ Cemetery, next to Rue des Freres in St Peter Port, a cross-section of islanders come to find out more about its past and the stories it holds, as well as hear about the wildlife now living there, courtesy of La Societe Guernesiaise and The Pollinator Project.

Guernsey Museum’s assistant archaeologist Tanya Walls said the graveyard had gone through a lot of restoration work so it was nice to be able to share this with the public.

‘The original stimulus of all this was when an application was put in to remove the vaults,’ she said.

‘We objected to this and eventually won our case to keep them here, so following that we thought we needed to do something about them rather than just leave the place to ruin.

‘After five years working on the place we teamed up with La Societe Guernesiaise and then The Pollinator Project to develop its biodiversity, welcoming people here today to talk about it and see the slow-worms, frogs and moths that frequent the place.

‘It’s great to see so many people come.’

This included Nina Heckelmann and her daughter Audrey Harwood-Jones, 3, who was interested in the wildlife and had come prepared with an insect-magnifier.

‘We spotted some moths and bees,’ said Audrey.

Craig and Jeanette Robert said they had come to see what the cemetery was all about.

‘We didn’t know much about it,’ said Mrs Robert.

‘It’s interesting because we’ve walked past loads, so to actually come in and hear about the place is really good.’

La Societe initiative The Pollinator Project’s co-founder Vanessa Crispini said the open day had seen a good turnout despite the drizzle.

‘Initially we were given a small area, but we have since doubled it in size, planting wildflowers to create a natural biodiverse habitat right in the middle of Town,’ she said.

‘It’s a great way of showing what can be done in such a small space and get people to understand what wildlife we have here in the island. We’ve brought activities for children to get involved in so they can go around the cemetery spotting different things.

‘The island could be transformed if we all appreciate nature.’

Opened in the 1650s, the cemetery was used for 300 years and, up until falling out of favour in the 19th century, it was St Peter Port’s most popular cemetery.

It is the final resting place of more than 8,000 islanders, including Guernsey’s oldest ever woman, Margaret Ann Neve, who died in 1903 aged 110 years and 322 days.

In 2011, with the cemetery abandoned, the constables applied to the Ecclesiastical Court to remove all of the vaults and turn the land into a grass park.

A group of volunteers, headed by States archaeologist Dr Phil de Jersey, objected to this for historical and personal reasons.

The court sided with the volunteers and they were left with the challenge of restoring the graveyard to its former glory. It reopened to the public last year for the first time since the gates were last locked in 1970.