St Govan Church is a clear example of how bats and people can share a church. The tradition has been to keep the church closed for the summer during the bats’ breeding season and to open up under special licence for Christmas services when the bats were hibernating underground elsewhere.

However, with the recent milder winters, more bats were staying in exposed areas in the church. This was already raising questions about the continuity of the shared use of the church because of the risk of disturbing bats. But when COVID hit in 2020 and the church had to stay closed, VWT’s Bat Team started to work on a plan to create safe dark areas away from the nave for the bats to move into for the winter.

In 2023, we were granted a licence to enclose the tower and create alcoves for the bats. Monitoring during 2023 showed that the bat colony was stable and using their new enclosed alcoves. The licence also allowed us to remove the window shutters in September, allowing light into the nave and therefore encouraging the bats to move to the darker areas of the church to hibernate. This left the nave free for the congregation to enjoy their Christmas service at St Govan’s for the first time in four years.

To prepare the space, members of VWT staff go over to remove the protective covers and to replace the seating in time for the service, and then return in the new year to turn it back into a roost space ready for the spring and the breeding bats.

The church as a bat roost (top) and the church ready to welcome back its congregation for the Christmas service (bottom).

The occasion was very much welcomed by the locals, who were grateful to have their church back for their one special day a year. Thank you to our neighbour and church warden, Brian Smith, for arranging the service and communicating with the local community for the past four years. We are also grateful to the community for their patience, understanding and support to the bats.

Please note, all work and photography in the roost is done under licence.