The National Trust will be lighting beacons across the South West on Thursday 9 January as part of a national network of beacons to celebrate 125 years since the conservation charity was founded.
They will be lit at dawn to mark the moment that the charity was founded by Octavia Hill, Sir Robert Hunter and Canon Hardwicke Rawnsley to give people access to nature, to beauty and to history.
Locations where the beacons will be lit include Cornwall, Devon and Somerset. Chapel Carn Brea in Cornwall will be the most south westerly beacon lighting location in the UK, with beacons...
Castle Drogo will be open for Christmas for the first time since a major conservation project began seven years ago to make the building watertight.
Although the building work now has the end in sight, there is still much work to be done to restore the castle’s grounds and interiors back into the Drewe’s family home, which is likely to continue into 2020. However, the building is now watertight, meaning that Christmas can return to the castle once again.
From Saturday 30 November until Monday 23 December, Castle Drogo will be open and decorated for Christmas, inspired by...
A dedicated team of Christmas volunteers have spent over 3,000 hours creating a range festive displays and decorations bringing to life this year’s theme, which has taken inspiration from the well-known poem by Clement Clarke Moore, ‘Twas the night before Christmas.’
It’s all thanks to a dedicated team of volunteers at the National Trust’s Killerton, near Exeter, who start planning the theme, design and decorations at the start of each year.
Throughout 2019 the team have been busy creating festive decorations including stockings to hang by the fire in the Drawing Room and...
In celebration of National Tree Week, there will be tree planting in conjunction with the Tiverton Tree Team at Knightshayes this November to help boost the impressive tree collection that calls Knightshayes its home.
The planting, taking place on Saturday 30 November will help to replace the three mature oak trees which were taken out from the bottom of the driveway in October last year due to tree disease being identified at their base. The disease known as Ganoderma, a tree fungus, degraded the tree from the base upwards, and from the outside can be hard to detect, as the trees...
The National Trust has announced plans to release Eurasian beavers at two sites in the south of England next spring to help with flood management and to improve biodiversity.
The beaver reintroductions will be the first made by the conservation charity, linking to its ambitions to create priority habitats for nature and to increase the diversity of species and wildlife numbers on the land in its care.
Having once been an important part of the ecosystem, beavers became extinct in the UK in the 16th century due to hunting for their fur, meat and scent glands.
The tree planting event at Killerton on Sunday 17 November is cancelled due to the weather forecast and potential flooding of the event site. Please check Killerton’s social media for updates on future events
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To conclude 2019’s celebration of the centenary of the Forestry Commission, Killerton will be hosting a tree planting event at Ellerhayes on Sunday 17 November.
The estate’s rangers need your help to plant 400 trees alongside the River Culm. The trees are being planted to contribute towards the variety of wildlife habitats at Killerton,...
From global climate strikes led by Greta Thunberg to forest fires, environmental issues have never been so topical. Although many of us know we need to make sustainable changes, it can be difficult to grasp what the effects of climate change will look like, if we don’t take action.
But now, a new installation at Killerton in Broadclyst, Devon is offering visitors the chance to travel into the future to 2050 and experience the impact of climate change for themselves.
The first-of-its-kind immersive experience, created through CGI and augmented reality technology, will...
On Sunday 28 April, the Killerton rangers need your help to count and learn about the creatures that live in Ashclyst Forest.
Come along to Caddihoe Scout Camp and help the team with some hands on bug hunting, flower counting and butterfly spotting at the BioBlitz day. Everything you help us find will be fed into a database to help understand more about which animals are living in the woods.
The day kicks off bright and early with a dawn chorus walk where you can enjoy the early morning bird song. Expert led walks and wildlife survey fun will then continue throughout the...
Castle Drogo is calling for volunteers at an exciting time in the castle’s history as the project to make it watertight starts to reach its conclusion.
More volunteers than ever are needed to share Castle Drogo’s stories and become part of the team, whether for a couple of hours to spare or to volunteer more regularly.
To find more volunteers, Castle Drogo is holding two volunteering open days on Wednesday 10 April and Saturday 13 April, from 12-3pm in the community space, for anyone who would like to find out more about volunteering there. Alternatively, information on...
Following six years of major restoration work, the National Trust’s ambitious project to save Castle Drogo, the last castle built in England, is nearing completion. Building work will still be visible, with some external work to be carried out during 2019, however, for the first time in its life the building will be watertight.
Staff now have a big task ahead of them as they begin the huge job of moving all the contents, many of which have been in storage, back in. It’s a job which is expected to take all year. There’s plenty to do - from painting and decorating, to rediscovering...
