A CHARITY that helps look after churchyards in Ludlow and south Shropshire has been given an important boost.

Caring for Gods Acre is a charity that helps to cares for churchyards and burial grounds in Shropshire.

It has won Heritage Lottery Funding to develop a scheme that will lead to a bid for a major four-year project that would start in the autumn of 2017.

But the project is about much more than just making churchyards look neat and tidy.

“From nesting spots in ancient trees to hiding places in undisturbed walls, burial grounds are incredibly important for wildlife and biodiversity,” said Vanessa Harbour of the Heritage Lottery Fund in the West Midlands.

Caring for God's Acre is a charity dedicated to the conservation of burial grounds, which encourages and supports people and communities to protect and enhance wildlife.

The Beautiful Burial Ground project will enable the charity to extend its work and raise the profile of burial grounds as special places for people, nature and history.

Burial sites such as old churchyards and cemeteries have long been recognised for their rich biodiversity.

The man-made historic structures such as the monuments, memorials and lychgates, are of equal importance according to the charity because they reflect the period in which they were made.