St John’s Church, Chelmsford

During 2025 St John’s Church in Chelmsford redeveloped its churchyard, and was very grateful for a £3,000 grant received from Essex Heritage Trust.

The vision was that the large churchyard would become a welcoming green space for the community where people could connect with nature, learn about their local heritage, meet others or simply sit and enjoy some peace.  Key to that transition has been a heritage path with information posts dotted around, recycled plastic benches, a storytelling area, a wild flower meadow, a quiet garden (complete with community mosaic) and community veg beds.

The EHT grant funded the heritage board which gives visitors information about the churchyard, a map of what’s where, and invites them to use the QR codes on the 9 posts for more detailed information about different parts of the churchyard. The transformation of the churchyard from being a rather neglected place has meant that now someone can usually be found sitting somewhere enjoying the green space, and few visitors pass the heritage board without stopping to learn something about the history of their neighbourhood.