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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Environment
Patrick Greenfield

How England’s churches are making an uneasy peace with the bats in their belfries

A pipistrelle bat navigates a church in darkness.
‘It’s safe, it’s dry, there are insects in here, they can feed.’ A pipistrelle bat navigates a church in darkness. Photograph: CreativeNature_nl/Getty Images/iStockphoto

High above the pews of All Saints church in Thornham, north Norfolk, a roost of soprano pipistrelle bats have made their home. The nooks and crannies of the medieval church are perfect entry points for the winged mammals, whose bodies are about the size of a thumb. In the warmer months, they emerge every evening from the rafters as darkness falls.

“They like our church,” says Janet Needham, the warden, over tea and chocolate digestives in the church library.

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