Town Parks and Gardens
The town parks and gardens area is formed from the Blackmore Gardens, the Parish Churchyard, the Bowling Green, and the Fortfield:Blackmore GardensBlackmore Gardens is one of Sidmouth's main green spaces. The Conservatory in Blackmore Gardens is owned directly by Sidmouth Town Council. Dogwood is a prominent feature of Blackmore Gardens, providing a vibrant backdrop with its bright red wood, particularly notable in autumn and winter. The gardens are well maintained by the EDDC workforce.Parish ChurchyardThe Parish Churchyard is a place where you can find a wide range of lichen species on gravestones and walls. The churchyard wall alongside Church Lane in Sidmouth is an old wall with lime mortar in the joints. Unlike walls made with modern Portland cement mortar, which is a harsher environment, many plants can colonise lime mortar.Pellitory of the Wall can be found growing on the gate pillar of the churchyard wall alongside Church Lane. This plant thrives in the gap between the base of walls and footpaths where its roots are in soil. There are several Yew trees in the churchyard with their berries providing a winter food source for birds.Bowling GreenA colony of mixed waxcap fungi can be found on the grass beside the bowling greens in town in autumn and is a significant site for such fungi in the area. FortfieldThe Fortfield is the area behind the cricket pavilion and tennis courts. A path runs alongside a bank here which is a remnant of an old field boundary. This bank used to be the boundary hedge for ""Back Fort Field"".The bank behind the tennis courts has Wild Strawberries from May onwards, and they are common in most of the valley's hedge banks. The bank alongside the croquet lawns in Station Road, which seems adjacent to the Fortfield area, has Purple Ramping-fumitory and patches of Sticky Mouse-ear where Goldfinches feed on the seeds. Sadly, the bank behind the cricket pavilion and tennis courts is becoming swamped by the invasive non-native Three Cornered Leek.