A churchyard is a patch of land adjoining or surrounding a church, which is usually owned by the relevant church or local parish itself. In the Scots language or Northern English language, this can also be known as a kirkyard or kirkyaird. In England, the fact that in an open field village there were very few fenced areas meant that the yew trees needed for longbows were commonly grown in the churchyard since the foliage is poisonous to cattle. Churchyards can be host to unique and ancient habitats because they may remain significantly unchanged for hundreds of years.