Church Hill is a bulge of chalk on the edge of Therfield Heath near Royston, Hertfordshire. From a distance chalk grassland looks to be grass and not much else. Up close there are treasures in the turf. I saw many Cowslips along the length and breadth of the heath, a classic wildflower of chalk escarpments. But I was seeking something altogether rarer...

Church Hill is one of the best sites in the country to see the Pasqueflower.

 The Pasqueflowers were dotted all around. Possibly less prolific than the last time I was here [see entry dated 26th. April 2018] and perhaps a little shorter; wildflower populations can vary considerably from year to year. Nonetheless Church Hill is one of the few locations where they can still be found in their thousands. 

 Pulsatilla vulgaris requires a very specific habitat: undisturbed, short sward calcareous grassland preferably on a slope. At one end of Church Hill there is a depression that looks like it might have been a chalk pit. This edge gives a sense of the soil profile of the area- note how shallow the soil is. The Pasqueflower is a niche species whose habitat has largely disappeared from our ploughed, "improved" and industrially farmed landscape. 

 It is also said they grow on ground where Viking blood was shed. Pulsatilla vulgaris persists on Church Hill though there hasn't been any bloodletting in recent times as far as I know.