Management of Bats in Churches – a pilot
Author(s): Charlotte Packman, Matt Zeale, Stephen Harris, Gareth Jones
A significant proportion of medieval churches are home to bats. A minority host important maternity roosts. Large numbers of bats can disrupt the human use of the building and can damage objects of religious and historic value. However, bats are a protected species and management options have to take that fact into consideration. This pilot project therefore looked at effective management options for bats in historic churches that do not impact significantly on the protected bat populations. The project built on previous research that had been funded by Defra. The project was commissioned by English Heritage (now Historic England). It was carried out by the University of Bristol; the Bat Conservation Trust and Philip Parker Associates Ltd also contributed to the project. When commissioned, the project formed part of wider work on attritional environmental threats within the National Heritage Protection Plan (Activity 2C2).
- Report Number:
- 106/2015
- Series:
- Other
- Pages:
- 58
