Our community engagement projects aim to work with the local community and engage visitors in their heritage and with the Cathedral’s green spaces.
BioBlitz
July 2023
The BioBlitz was a public wildlife search on Exeter Cathedral Green, as part of a wider initiative to involve the local community in recording species and monitoring biodiversity.
Supported by The National Lottery Heritage fund, the event took place in partnership with local charities Butterfly Conservation, Devon Wildlife Trust, Double Elephant, Exeter Beekeepers, St Sidwell’s Community Centre, Diocese of Exeter, Exeter Seedbank and Tangled Bank Foraging.
The event included a huge variety of wildlife themed activities, such as snail racing, wildlife identification, a VR experience with Exeter Science Centre, and more.
Experts were excited to find many common moth species including three common Rustic moths, a lesser common Rustic, a Large Yellow Underwing, a Nut-tree Tussock, a Tachystola Arcoxantha and a Chrysoteuchia Cumella. Other unusual wildlife was also discovered, including a hummingbird hawk moth and a vole in the garden of the Bishop of Exeter’s Palace.
A range of exotic wild plants were discovered around the Cathedral, including a Creeping Bent, Maidenhair Spleenwort, Enchanters’ Nightshade, a Garden Yellow Archangel and over 65 lichens.
