A Dorset church has turned to a flock of sheep to help fight their out of control graveyard weeds – and save money to help repair the religious building.
Vicar Andrew Rowland welcomed his new flock of four North Ronaldsay rams at St Wolfrida’s Church in the village of Horton, Dorset.
The cash-strapped church is saving up £300,000 for building repairs after its timbers were infested by deathwatch beetles.
The congregation could not afford to hire a gardener to maintain the 1.5-acre grounds around its World War One graves – so bringing in the sheep was the brainchild of church warden Phillip Bailey.
He discovered that parish secretary Ruth Marshall had previously worked as a shepherdess and approached her for help.
She sourced and borrowed some sheep from a farming friend and has since purchased them after they did a ‘great job’.
The sheep are a small breed, adapted to deal with harsh, cold environments, which means they can stay out in the churchyard year-round, without the need for a barn or shelter.
The congregation have put together a ‘flockwatch’ WhatsApp group to keep an eye on the sheep.
Verger Jackie Lydford checks on them every morning and night and gives them nutritional feed to make sure they have a balanced diet.
Mr Bailey said: ‘St Wolfrida’s is a rural church in a rural setting therefore we should be as simple and as close to the natural world as the church is humble.’
Ms Marshall said: ‘Philip had the idea, he really wanted to have livestock back at the church and I helped make his idea a reality because I have previously worked as a shepherdess.
‘The sheep are a very rare breed called North Ronaldsay and they are originally from the Orkney Islands. The churchyard is about one and a half acres and it was extraordinarily overgrown, the nettles were up to your neck and you couldn’t get to any of the gravestones.
‘We have a gardener that looks after the newer part where relatives still attend the graves, but the older historical side hadn’t been maintained for about 20 years.
‘The sheep have been so useful. We had three days where they did nothing but escape and we couldn’t work out why. Then we realised it was because the battery had run out on the electric fence.
‘All the congregation love them, it’s really brought the community together.. People walk through the churchyard to see the sheep and check on them.
‘Historically there have been sheep in the churchyard at Horton so it’s not so much we are introducing them as reintroducing them.’
The church dates back to the 1300s and the current church was rebuilt in 1722 on the ruins of the previous building.
The tower is believed to have been designed by the famous architect Sir John Vanbrugh, best known for designing Blenheim Palace and Castle Howard, or a master mason who worked for him.
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