This talk and all our lectures are FREE for Friends of the Botanical Gardens to attend. Members of the public are also welcome to join us on payment of £5 at the door on the day. Live talks are held in the Education Centre in the grounds of the Botanical Gardens - easily accessed via the Thompson Road Entrance.

Our speakers for this talk are Ruth Ross and Olwyn Bailey who are both Medieval Park Guides and will provide an insight into the project of restoration and rewilding of the Medieval Park.

Haddon Medieval Park is the former deer park that surrounds the magnificent country house of Haddon Hall near Bakewell in Derbyshire. Untouched by modern agriculture or development, this hidden gem in the heart of the Peak District is a haven of rich biodiversity. Its 500 acres of ancient pasture, shady woodlands, water meadows and river banks have offered an uninterrupted continuity of habitat for millennia and support a huge variety of wildlife and plant life, including many species that are classified as Rare or Endangered.

In 2009 Lord Edward Manners began a programme to convert the entirety of the Haddon Estate to organic management, to completely restore the Medieval Park to its original 14th Century plan and to 'rewild' the parkland. Areas of land further out from the Hall that were previously farmed have been reverted back to regenerative open parkland and woodland pasture. More than 500 new native broadleaf trees have been carefully positioned and planted, and all internal fences have been removed. A small herd of rare breed English Longhorn cattle and a few tame sheep have been set to roam free, grazing and browsing the land in an entirely natural way.  

Haddon Medieval Park is normally private but since 2021 has been open to the public through a series of guided Wildlife Walks and Parkland Tours.

Both Ruth and Olwyn have worked for Haddon Hall for many years and have watched the regeneration plan as it has developed. Ruth is a dendrochronologist by background and is an expert on the Medieval Park's trees and plant life. Olwyn was previously a teacher and has a keen interest in the history of the parkland and how it was used to support Haddon Hall in medieval times.

Haddon Medieval Park website