Mynwent Llanharan

A flower-rich grassland situated at the back of Llanharan Cemetery. Changes in management is helping this grassland thrive, providing a much-needed home for a wide range of species.

Burnet Companion - © Holly Tudball

Habitat

This is a wonderful and rare wildflowerrich meadow, looked after by ‘cut and collect’ hay management. All summer the grassland is left to flower and seed before the hay is cut and removed. This is the secret to encouraging wildflowers.

When to Visit

In the spring, enjoy the superb hay-meadow display of cowslip, common bird’s-foot trefoil, bulbous
buttercup, quaking grass, bugle and oxeye daisy. Later in the summer, the lovely purple hues of black knapweed comes to the fore. These flowers are a firm favourite of pollinating insects. Once the meadow is cut in the autumn, blackbirds and song thrushes visit to feast on worms and the fantastic reds, yellows, and oranges of waxcap fungi appear.

Biodiversity

In the summer beautiful common blue butterflies, six-spot burnet and burnet companion moths fly from flower to flower, basking in the sunshine and laying eggs on their chosen foodplants. The insect life in Llanharan attracts airborne visitors at night. Tiny common pipistrelle bats emerge at dusk to feed on moths and gnats, catching their prey in the dark using echolocation. In a single night a pipistrelle can eat up to 3,000 gnats!