LONDON — It is not just worshippers who are attracted to the United Kingdom’s network of traditional stone churches. Increasingly, they are also playing host to hundreds of bats.

Research carried out by the Bat Conservation Trust has revealed that over 8,000 churches provide bats with a home. The reasons for this popularity are easy to find — churches offer lots of safe, hidden places to roost within the nooks and crannies of church roof spaces. The surrounding areas offer plenty of insects to eat.

As a result, churches are proving irresistible. Over 12 bat species representing two-thirds of the native bat species, including some of the rarest, now live in churches. In the West Country, DNA analysis of droppings has revealed that some churches are home to the rare grey long-eared bat, living alongside the more common brown long-eared bats. Often, there are several different types of bats happily cohabiting the same church. It is believed that some of the roosts have been used for centuries.