National Trust’s The Weir Garden receives £607k National Highways funding boost to create new homes for wildlife
ESL Member, The Weir Garden, a National Trust Herefordshire place, is an eighteenth-century riverside and walled garden occupying four hectares along the banks of the River Wye. This area, however, is only a small part of the 100 hectares of land that make up The Weir estate, which features parkland and farmland situated on either side of the A438 Hereford to Hay on Wye road.
Until 2022, most of the farm and parkland was let to a tenant farmer, but it has since come back into the care of the National Trust. The organization then began work to enhance understanding of the landscape and identify priorities for land use, conservation, and potential visitor experiences. This effort has led to the Weir Priority Habitat restoration project, aiming to establish substantial wildlife habitats, sequester carbon, and improve soil and water quality.
Thanks to generous funding from the National Highways environment and wellbeing fund, the National Trust is about to begin work on this project, which will create and restore over 65 hectares of wildlife habitat. The project involves restoring woodland and wood pasture, creating new orchards, and enhancing the ecological value of grasslands.
Meadows will be planted and sown with species such as common knapweed, ox-eye daisy, bird’s-foot trefoil, and meadow buttercup. Some areas will be planted with parkland trees to create wood pasture, while others will be planted with a blend of native broadleaved trees to restore woodland. Seventy-five percent of these trees will be oak, with the remaining trees comprising a mixture of lime, sweet chestnut, beech, and field maple. This will improve the biodiversity of the woodland and make it more resistant to disease and climate change.
Traditional orchards will be restored, featuring local varieties of apple, pear, damson, plum, and cherry trees. Hedgerows will be established with a blend of traditional and native species, providing a much-needed habitat for insect pollinators.
Ongoing restoration and management of these priority habitats will include a mixture of livestock grazing and a complementary hay cutting regime to achieve the best outcomes for biodiversity, thus ensuring a climate-resilient landscape.
“We are so grateful for the support given to us from National Highways which is vital to helping wildlife establish a home for the future. We hope that, by restoring habitats and improving the health of the soil, The Weir estate should attract a more varied array of wildlife, including birds such as redstart, lesser-spotted woodpecker, and barn owl, along with insect pollinators and wetland species associated with the Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) River Wye. Better water quality will be achieved by managing the land naturally, with no pesticides or fertilisers, and carbon capture and storage potential of the land will be enhanced through the creation of species-rich permanent grassland, orchards, parkland, woodland and hedgerow.”
National Trust General manager, David Bailey
“Our work goes beyond operating, maintaining, and improving roads, we want to make a positive difference for people and for the planet. We are committed to running our business in an environmentally responsible way, while making sure sustainability shapes our work from start to finish. Through our Designated Funds, such as the environment and wellbeing fund, we are supporting environmental improvements and community wellbeing projects as well as making sure our roads work more harmoniously with their surroundings. We achieve more by working with partners such as the National Trust and were happy to support the project at The Weir Garden which will have such a significant impact on local woodland and grasslands creating a welcoming habitat for wildlife.”
National Highways Engineering Team Manager, Sam Twist
You can visit the The Weir Garden eighteenth-century riverside garden with far reaching views across the Wye Valley, a productive walled garden and take in the wider estate on a parkland walk to see some of the areas that will be part of the Weir Priority Habitat restoration project.
Plan your visit, see opening hours, admission details, and read more about the project on their website: nationaltrust.org.uk/the-weir-garden
National Highways’ Designated Funds are ring-fenced pots to invest in and support initiatives that deliver lasting benefits for road users, the environment, and communities across England. From 2020 to 2025 National Highways will be investing £936 million in Designated Funds in four areas:
Safety and congestion
Environment and wellbeing
Users and communities
Innovation and modernisation
For more on The Weir Priority Habitat restoration, visit nationaltrust.org.uk/visit/worcestershire-herefordshire/the-weir-garden/projects-at-the-weir-garden
For more on National Highways’ biodiversity work, visit nationalhighways.co.uk/our-work/environment/biodiversity/
For more on National Highways Designated Funds, visit nationalhighways.co.uk/our-work/designated-funds