The still calm of graveyards invites visitors to think about the dead, but now the Church of England is asking people across the country to look for surprising signs of life within them.
Graves are a haven for lichen, with more than 700 of the 2,000 British species having been recorded in English churchyards and cemeteries so far. According to surveys by the church, many sites have well more than 100 species on the stonework, trees and in the grassland.
