The Knepp Rewilding Project

Arable and dairy farming on the Knepp Estate in rural Sussex used to be very much like that on most other farms in the land; an unremitting struggle to increase yields and maximise profits. But in these South Downs chalklands it wasn't working, no matter how much artificial fertiliser and insecticide was ploughed and sprayed onto the uncooperative land. As the new millennium dawned, with their tenant farmers quitting and debts spiralling out of control, Isabella Tree and her husband Sir Charles Burrell decided to turn back the clock and revert to less intensive farming practices. Hundreds of acres of the estate were allowed to 'rewild' – to return to their natural state.

Unwittingly, we had chosen to holiday in an AirBnB converted barn on the Knepp estate, adjacent to some of the now redundant farm buildings. Jane, our host, enthused about the rewilding project, and lent us a map of the estate and a copy of Isabella Tree's book.

It's still possible to discern signs of former farming practices but gradually, over much of the estate, nature is taking over.  To quote from the Knepp website:

Using grazing animals as the drivers of habitat creation, and with the restoration of dynamic, natural water courses, the project has seen extraordinary increases in wildlife. Extremely rare species like turtle doves, nightingales, peregrine falcons and purple emperor butterflies are now breeding here; and populations of more common species are rocketing.

There are several tree platforms on the estate.  The kid in me was keen to climb them all...

though there wasn't always a lot to see from the top. In truth, I lack the patience to stand quietly and wait for birds and animals to arrive. There were always more trees to climb and a walk to complete.

In one corner of the estate, and close to the busy A24, stand the remains of Knepp Castle, which has a dark history. The landowner, William de Braose III, was a trusted friend of King John. In 1208 the infamous king confiscated the lands and castle at Knepp, captured and killed de Braose and starved his wife to death. He then used the land as his personal hunting estate.

Ironically, with deer and boar* proliferating, the estate is once more ripe for hunting. Thankfully, though, no power-crazed king passes this way any more, and on this sunny Sunday a peace-loving Angie was the castle's sole resident.

Due to my questionable map reading skills, we found ourselves on a footpath outside the Knepp estate as we made our way towards the little village of Shipley. Interestingly, on one side of the path the fields here too were lying fallow. Butterflies and wild flowers have triumphed. 

In Shipley stood an old windmill, bearing silent testimony the time when wheat stood tall in the fields around here. Now it's left to farmers in more productive areas to bring the harvest home.


* Talking to a resident of the estate, I gathered that Knepp's boar are genuine 'wild' ones, not the half-bred, farmed variety that reproduce in abundance and have become such a headache in the Forest of Dean.

6.2 miles