Burial Grounds Committee
29 January 2026
Mole Activity

1. The mole activity in the cemetery continues apace, the only period when there
was a slight lull having been in July/August 2025 when it is assumed that the
ground was too sun-baked for easy tunneling. (There has been a little activity
in the churchyard but nothing of concern. Currently there doesn’t appear to be
any active tunneling.)

2. The area most affected currently is that most in use for burials and interments
of ashes: the area reached at the end of the path from the car park and to the
right. However there has been activity throughout. An estimate of numbers of
molehills is not of that much use as Barrie and I are constantly flattening those
we find; we’ve flattened in the region of 350-400 over the year. Were you to
undertake a count today you’d find in the region of 150 hills and areas where
we’ve dug away the molehill spoil.

3. We’ve found that a better aesthetic look is achieved by removal with a trowel
rather than a shovel but, of course, this takes additional time. Where molehills
appear on graves or up against memorial stones (a frequent occurrence) we
obviously have to use trowels to protect the site. As you are aware there has
been at least one complaint in writing to you directly and we have fielded
several comments from visitors and relatives as to the extent and damage
caused.

4. Mole scarers (small vibrating posts) have been purchased and sited but there
is little sign at the moment that they’re having any deterrent effect. Pest
controllers have advised that the most efficient and effective time to trap
moles is in the early spring when they’re breeding. One is due to be contacted
again at the beginning of February 2026 in order to arrange a date for a visit
to the cemetery and for the production of a quote as to extermination costs.

Simon Rothwell
Groundsman
21 January 2026