Very often a church is surrounded by a grave yard, for which there is a tag (amenity=grave_yard). The church building itself can be outlined with building=church (or just building=yes) as well as amenity=place_of_worship (or, better IMO, a separate amenity=place_of_worship node separate from the building area). If there is remaining land around the building which isn't a grave yard, then it isn't really the church either; I would tag it landuse=grass if that's what it is, if I could be bothered, and if I can determine the outline, or just leave it if not.
osm.xml, the file that determines how Mapnik renders the map, has a provision for amenity=place_of_worship on an area, but I really don’t like how place-of-worship areas get colored a dark gray.
I've been considering the possibility of landuse=estate for large private properties that have all the appearance of a park, but are not. This might also include stuff like the private lands of a convent or a country house. Basically it seems to me that marking a large open, but not (or at least not obviously) publicly accessible areais still useful, but I'm not clear how best to do so.
How come some people have a constant urge to tag everything? Isn't it possible to leave small specs of white on the map? Besides, the area around the church probably have some other purposes than one would expect of amenity=place_of_worship, so if tagged it should be of the other purposes, park, garden, meadow, common, cemitary, estate, parking lot, all of these are much more accurate than place_of-worship, unless prayer or messes regularly take place there as well.
I personally tag the lot a church is on with amenity=place_of_worship. After all, the lot is owned by the diocese and the church includes both the physical building and the church grounds.
I do like "seav". In an urban/suburban environment with clearly-defined lots, I tag the entire lot as an area with amenity=place_of_worship. This includes the building, parking lot, and connected grounds.
In an rural or open environment it may be less clear where the church ground starts and ends, in which case I just stick with a node or area on the building.
I do the same thing with suburban schools; I mark the entire lot as amenity=school, and mark the school building with building=yes.
OpenStreetMap
Discussion
Comment from davidearl on 7 June 2009 at 15:31
Very often a church is surrounded by a grave yard, for which there is a tag (amenity=grave_yard). The church building itself can be outlined with building=church (or just building=yes) as well as amenity=place_of_worship (or, better IMO, a separate amenity=place_of_worship node separate from the building area). If there is remaining land around the building which isn't a grave yard, then it isn't really the church either; I would tag it landuse=grass if that's what it is, if I could be bothered, and if I can determine the outline, or just leave it if not.
Comment from uldics on 7 June 2009 at 17:27
leisure=common
leisure=park
landuse=meadow
Depends on how its allowed to be used and what there is.
Comment from Minh Nguyen on 7 June 2009 at 18:53
osm.xml, the file that determines how Mapnik renders the map, has a provision foramenity=place_of_worshipon an area, but I really don’t like how place-of-worship areas get colored a dark gray.Comment from Circeus on 8 June 2009 at 03:19
I've been considering the possibility of landuse=estate for large private properties that have all the appearance of a park, but are not. This might also include stuff like the private lands of a convent or a country house. Basically it seems to me that marking a large open, but not (or at least not obviously) publicly accessible areais still useful, but I'm not clear how best to do so.
Comment from Skippern on 8 June 2009 at 04:51
How come some people have a constant urge to tag everything? Isn't it possible to leave small specs of white on the map? Besides, the area around the church probably have some other purposes than one would expect of amenity=place_of_worship, so if tagged it should be of the other purposes, park, garden, meadow, common, cemitary, estate, parking lot, all of these are much more accurate than place_of-worship, unless prayer or messes regularly take place there as well.
Comment from seav on 8 June 2009 at 15:45
I personally tag the lot a church is on with amenity=place_of_worship. After all, the lot is owned by the diocese and the church includes both the physical building and the church grounds.
Comment from amillar on 8 June 2009 at 19:34
I do like "seav". In an urban/suburban environment with clearly-defined lots, I tag the entire lot as an area with amenity=place_of_worship. This includes the building, parking lot, and connected grounds.
In an rural or open environment it may be less clear where the church ground starts and ends, in which case I just stick with a node or area on the building.
I do the same thing with suburban schools; I mark the entire lot as amenity=school, and mark the school building with building=yes.