Hitchin Cemetery August-September 2026
The extremely dry conditions made the cemetery look very brown for most of August, and insects and native plants were not greatly in evidence so it was interesting to note some of the ornamental plants that performed well in the drought. A couple of Cordelines thrived...
A few plants managed to flower despite the conditions, like this blue Echinops, and many spring-flowering plants maintained a healthy look and will happily flower again in spring, like the Ceanothus that is draped over a tombstone (although we have now cut this back a little to make the stone more legible).
Two plants which do seem to have succumbed are a Dogwood and a Hydrangea, this latter is known for liking plenty of water. It seems reasonable to encourage only drought-tolerant plants in the cemetery given the current and likely future water shortage, so I think the Hydrangea won't be replaced.
In the absence of cemetery wildlife a bit of history caught my attention to do with Philip Allen, carpenter and Beadle. A Beadle was parish officer who had minor police-like powers with specific tasks dependent on local requirements, but before I tell you more, a diversion into a gruesome history...
In the 1820s medical schools in London would pay large sums of money for corpses, leading to the rise of "resurrection men" who raided graveyards for recently buried bodies. In 1828 Elizabeth Whitehead’s body was stolen from St Mary's churchyard and as a result iron railings were put up around the Churchyard to protect the graves from body snatchers and the Beadle was employed to patrol the churchyard after dark. It seems quite likely that the Beadle in this case was Philip Allen, who would have been around 48 years old in 1828, and here is his tombstone...
In Loving Memory of Philip Allen, of this town, Carpenter, for nearly 30 years Beadle of the Parish.
Who died 7th December 1864 in the 84th year of his age.
I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of the ungodly
Also of Elizabeth, widow of John King and daughter of the above who died 4th March 1898 aged 80 years
Another parish official who Philip would have known is the Sexton, the man who dug the graves, and the earliest tombstone in the cemetery is that of William Morgan (died 1857, aged 82) Sexton for 49 years. William may well have been Sexton for the whole time that Philip was Beadle. So it is notable that the cemetery has William, who buried the bodies at St Mary's, and Philip, who made sure they stayed buried!
A Probus group visited the cemetery for a tour in August (having had to cancel an earlier visit due to extreme heat) and then at the end of the month there were some heavy down-pours and green conditions gradually returned to the cemetery in September, and after a few more days a couple of fungi made an appearance too.
An Ice Plant, or Sedum, of which there are many in the cemetery, is particularly good at tolerating dry conditions and was flowering profusely in September, attracting this queen red-tailed Bumblebee. An Eyed Ladybird, Britain's largest, was spotted on a Lime tree, which is slightly unusual as they generally stick to Scot's Pine.
The British Naturalists (Herts branch) visited the cemetery on 19th September and despite that fact that I have been studying the cemetery flowers for years they were able to point new things out to me. I was shown a native plant called Calamint (two photos below), which is not very showy, but has a nice flower when studied up close. It is quite rare in Herts, and pretty much confined to the chalkier regions, so it is slightly surprising to find it in the cemetery. A (non-flowering) plant of Chia was also identified, perhaps a seed had been dropped from a particularly healthy lunch?
To finish with, here's Boletus fungi found by the British Naturalists, and a very healthy-looking Frog, found by the cemetery volunteers. It is good to know that a Frog has made it through all the heatwaves, although one feels a little sorry for it as the cemetery has no pond.
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