A major floral extravaganza to celebrate the life of Shrewsbury’s most famous son Charles Darwin is to be held at the county church where his family is buried.

The event at St Chad’s Church in Montford, near Shrewsbury, is due to take place next month as part of celebrations to mark the 200th anniversary of his birth.

St Chad’s managers felt it would be a good location as his mother, Susannah,  father, Robert, and two sisters are buried there.

Darwin’s Shrewsbury at Montford, a floral celebration, will be held from May 22 to May 25. A variety of events will also be held throughout the weekend while the festival is under way in the church, which will be open from 10.30am each day.

At 7.30pm on May 22, Montford Parish Hall will host a talk by Peter Boyd, curator of collections at Shrewsbury Museum.

Entitled Darwin, his flowers and his gardens, the talk is priced at £5 per person. On May 23, there will be a family fun night and barbecue at Montford Farm from 6.30pm. And on May 24 there will be a service of thanksgiving in the church at 6.30pm.

Youngsters have been preparing for the festival by taking part in a special craft event in the village at the weekend, which allowed them to make their own bugs. Some of their creations are due to be on show during the big event next month.

Spokesman Carl Stanton said: “It will be a tremendous weekend and we’ve also got local artists right next to the church who will be doing paintings and other things.”