End of the survey

The study comes to an end on 31st August 2022. We'll be busy analysing the records over the winter and spring but look forward to sharing our findings. In the meantime, please explore our results page and the Bats in Churches Project website. The project is still active and at the bottom of the homepage you can sign up to our newsletter to get the latest information.

Thank you to everyone who took part in our surveys! Whether you found evidence of bats or not, we want to know. Please make sure to provide your findings in your MyChurches page as soon as possible , or send your paper forms to Claire cboothby@bats.org.u, or Freepost BAT CONSERVATION)

Help us learn more about bats in churches

Churches are treasured places of worship but can also provide good roosting sites for bats. By taking part in one of our two surveys – the National Bats in Churches Study or Church Bat Detectives – you can help us to better understand the relationship between bats and these historic buildings. You can see the churches available to survey in the map below. To select a church you first need to join the survey. Click here to see a video which goes through the process of registering and selecting a church to survey. For further help or any questions please contact us at churches@bats.org.uk
If you’ve already registered, simply log in and go to My Churches to select a church or enter records.

See available churches to survey before you join

The Bats in Churches survey has now finished. So you can no longer select new churches to survey.

National Bats in Churches Study

We have selected 1000 churches for this study and we need your help to survey as many as possible over the next four years (2019-2022). The survey consists of three separate parts: a questionnaire, a daytime bat evidence survey, where you will collect droppings for DNA analysis, and placing a bat detector in the church for two nights.

  • Book equipment from us (bat detector and vials to collect bat droppings)
  • You’ll need a camera
  • Two visits, which will take approximately three hours
  • June - August
Find out more

Church Bat Detectives

If there are no National Bats in Churches Study sites near you, you can still help us by taking part in Church Bat Detectives. Taking part is easy – it just takes a couple hours and anyone can get involved. This is a one-off survey, involving just one church visit and consists of two separate parts: a questionnaire and a daytime bat evidence survey.

  • Do not book equipment
  • You’ll need a camera
  • One visit, which will take approximately two hours
  • June - August
Find out more