City of London Cemetery
Wildlife recorded in the City of London Cemetery
Birds, Insects, Mammals
For Plants click here
Birds
The cemetery, in its location adjacent to so many other wildlife areas and its wealth of planted vegetation, means that a good variety of birds - albeit many of the "garden" varieties - are usually present. In this list only those species that have been seen in the cemetery, or are commonly seen overhead, have been included, and not those that may casually pass overhead. Those in ordinary font are thought to be usually present (in their season), those in italics rare or visitors, and those in bold may breed.
| BIRDS | |
| Grey Heron | May be seen flying over, and occasionally visit the ponds - which contain some tasty fish! |
| Mallard | Occasional in the ponds |
| Sparrowhawk | Can sometimes be seen overhead, or hunting through the trees |
| Hobby | Occasional |
| Kestrel | Can sometimes be seen overhead, |
| Common Gull | Frequently seen overhead |
| Wood Pigeon | Common |
| Feral Pigeon | Uncommon |
| Collared Dove | Fairly Common |
| Tawny Owl | Uncommon, but may be heard in the cemetery |
| Swift | A common summer sight |
| Green Woodpecker | Quite common |
| Great Spotted Woodpecker | Quite common |
| Lesser Spotted Woodpecker | Uncommon - not recorded for some years |
| Swallow | Passage in Spring and Autumn with some during the Summer |
| House Martin | Much less common now |
| Pied Wagtail | Uncommon |
| Wren | Common |
| Dunnock | Common |
| Blackcap | Fairly common |
| Willow Warbler | Uncommon |
| Chiffchaff | Fairly Common |
| Goldcrest | Uncommon |
| Robin | Common |
| Fieldfare | Sometimes seen in Winter |
| Blackbird | Common |
| Redwing | Sometimes seen in Winter |
| Song Thrush | Often seen and heard |
| Mistle Thrush | Fairly Common |
| Long-tailed Tit | Common |
| Coal Tit | Uncommon - but in2009/10 one of the better places in the general area to see this species |
| Blue Tit | Common |
| Great Tit | Common |
| Chaffinch | Common |
| Greenfinch | Common |
| Goldfinch | Quite common, particularly in winter |
| Bullfinch | Very uncommon |
| House Sparrow | Uncommon - but increasing |
| Starling | Common |
| Jay | Common |
| Magpie | Common |
| Carrion Crow | Common |
| Ring-necked Parakeet | One reported on 23 November 2005, but in 2010 increasingly heard flying over |
Insects
About 20 species of Butterfly have been seen here, and many moths. Other insects include a variety of Grasshoppers and Crickets including Roesel's Bush Cricket Metrioptera roeselii. Some of the insects recorded are listed below.
| BUTTERFLIES | ||
| Large Skipper | Ochlodes venatus | |
| Essex Skipper | Thymelicus lineola | |
| Small Skipper | Thymelicus sylvestris | |
| Common Blue | Polyommatus icarus | |
| Large White | Pieris brassicae |
|
| Green-veined White | Pieris napi |
|
| Meadow Brown | Maniola jurtina | |
| Red Admiral | Vanessa atalanta | |
| Small Copper | Lycaena phlaeas | |
| Small Heath | Coenonympha pamhilus | |
| Small Tortoiseshell | Aglais urticae | |
| Small White | Artogeia rapae |
|
| Speckled Wood | Pararge aegeria |
|
| Peacock | Inachis io | |
| Comma | Polygonia c-album | |
| MOTHS | ||
| Cinnabar | Tyria jacobaeae | |
| Grass Moths | ||
| DRAGONFLIES and DAMSELFLIES | ||
| Common Darter | Sympetrum striolatum |
|
| Common Blue Damselfly | Polyommatus icarus | |
| Azure Damselfly | Coenagrion puella | |
| GRASSHOPPERS and CRICKETS | ||
| Roesel's Bush-cricket | Metrioptera roeselii | |
| Meadow Grasshopper | Chorthippus parallelus | |
| Common Green Grasshopper | Omocestulus viridulus | |
| Common Field Grasshopper | Chorthippus brunneus |
|
| Long winged cone-head | Conocephalus dorsalis | |
| OTHER INSECTS AND SPIDERS | ||
| awaiting information | ||
Mammals
| MAMMALS | ||
| Hedgehog | Erinaceus europaeus | There seems to be a healthy population of these in the cemetery (2020) |
| Mole | Talpa europaea | Mole hills are often seen, particularly in the soft soils on the Roding embankments |
| Shrew | Sorex araneus | Can sometimes be heard in the rougher grassland |
| Red Fox | Vulpes vulpes | A very common resident, and very "tame" in the neighbourhood of the cafeteria |
| Squirrel | Sciuris caroliensis | Vey common |
| Muntjac | Muntiacus reevesi | Two or so of these have been seen by cemetery staff in recent years (2020) |
Robert Hunter Memorial
Robert Hunter was born in Newburgh, Fifeshire and died at Loughton in 1897. He was lexicographer, a missionary, a geologist, and a naturalist in Aberdeen, Nagpore, Victoria Docks, Sewardstone, and Loughton. (source: RHS Bibliography).
Scottish cleric and naturalist. Worked in the Bermuda Islands and central India 1847-1855, and discovered two new minerals, hislopite and hunterite. (source: Natural History Museum)
In 1882 Hunter built his house, Forest Retreat, in Staples Road, Loughton. There is a Blue Plaque on the house - now called Forest Villa - placed by Loughton Town Council on 23 February 1997 for the centenary of his death. The inscription reads: "The Rev. Robert Hunter (1823-1897) Lexicographer and Naturalist lived here".
The memorial is located on North Boundary Road, between Memorial Avenue and Belfry Road, and reads:
TO THE MEMORY / OF THE REVEREND / ROBERT HUNTER M.A.LL.D.F.C.S. / AUTHOR OF / NUMEROUS WORKS BESIDES / THE ENCYCLOPAEDIC DICTIONARY /
A MONUMENT OF / INDUSTRIOUS SCHOLARSHIP / BORN AT NEWBURGH FIFESHIRE / SEPT 3 1823/ DIED AT / FOREST RETREAT LOUGHTON ESSEX / FEB 5 1897 / GENTLE, LEARNED, MODEST, DEVOUT / IN SOUL HE NEVER CEASED TO BE A CHILD
A memorial to the Reverend Robert Hunter, 1823-1897, "author of many works besides the Encyclopaedic Dictionary", in the City of London Cemetery.
Photo and text: Paul Ferris 15/03/2008