Barn conversions drive bats into our belfries, says bishop

BATS are ruining churches because of barn conversions, the Bishop of Norwich has said.

Speaking in the House of Lords, the Rt Rev Graham James said that bats were moving into churches because old barns were being converted into homes.

“All over Norfolk there are barns once used by bats which have been turned into beautiful homes for human beings. And their new owners do not want to share their property with them. So the bats have moved to medieval churches,” he said.

Speaking in support of a bat conservation Bill sponsored by Conservative peer Lord Cormack, he said that worshippers in some areas had “come to the end of their tether” because their “glorious building” had become “increasingly unusable for worship or any other community purpose”.

“I think we tolerate this because we think houses of God are not inhabited,” he said. “But they are, and not only by God – they are inhabited by people.”

Bat droppings can damage church fittings and require intensive cleaning by volunteers if the church is to be used for services. Around 60 per cent of pre-16th century churches are estimated to contain bat roosts.

“I used to recommend the regular use of incense [as a deterrent], partly because I’m very High Church,” joked the bishop. “But even that is not now guaranteed to do the trick – clearly bats have gone up the candle in their churchmanship.”

The Bill would remove bat protection in churches unless there was no “significant adverse impact” and prevent new building without a local bat survey. The Bat Conservation Trust warned it would be “disastrous for those bat species that rely on churches”.

The move was opposed by both the Government and the Opposition in the Lords.

60pc

The percentage of pre-16th century churches that are thought to contain bat roosts