Non technical summary
St Katharine’s Church, WR12 7NL – Bat Survey
This report has been prepared by Sharpe Ecology, on behalf of Angela Piercy, Church Warden. The report has been prepared to inform proposals for external repairs of the tower of St Katherine’s Church, Wormington, Gloucestershire, WR12 7NL.
A detailed building inspection and site walkover was undertaken by Sharpe Ecology in March 2024, followed bat roost presence/absence (dusk emergence) surveys in May and June 2024.
The church was a grade II listed building with a timber tower with pitched stone-tiled roof on the west end of the church. It is this tower which will be subject to external repairs. The church was located towards the north side of the small village of Wormington, with a churchyard (with mature trees) to the south, east and north of the church, and a hedgerow, strip of grassland and farm buildings to the west.
Although there was no evidence of bats inside the tower, the tower did contain a small number of external potential roost features in the form of gaps under and within some of the stone tiles, assessed as being of moderate potential value to bats. The timber cladding on the tower was largely intact with no potential external roost features present.
The bat activity surveys confirmed the presence of occasional day roosts for common pipistrelle (maximum count two bats) and soprano pipistrelle (maximum count one bat) all roosting under the tiles on the church tower.
Mitigation measures for bats include:
- a pre-commencement check for bats and the supervision of roof tile removal by a licensed ecologist (with no timing constraints);
- the provision of two bat boxes (Eco Kent Bat Box, Schwegler 2F with Double Front Panel Bat Box, Eliza Bat Box or Large Multi Chamber WoodStone Bat Box) prior to the commencement of works (to relocate any bats captured by hand and as compensation for the temporary loss of the common pipistrelle and soprano pipistrelle day roosts),
- the reinstatement of suitable gaps under replaced roof tiles (in the same location as existing roosts where possible) to provide replacement roosting opportunities for soprano and common pipistrelle bats within the church tower. The proposed external repairs to the St Katharine’s Church tower would result in the temporary loss of the soprano pipistrelle and common pipistrelle roosts as well as potential for harm/disturbance to bats if present during works, a European Protected Species (EPS) Mitigation Licence will need to be obtained from Natural England before any works to the roosts can be undertaken. The site does qualify for a Bat Mitigation Class Licence (BMCL).
- The bat boxes should be located on a suitable mature tree located within the church yard to the south of the church, with clear flight access for bats into the boxes and at a height of 4-6m, in a sunny location. The long-term retention of the bat boxes (post church tower renovations) would provide additional roosting options for bats on site.
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