At the heart of our conservation efforts are the wildflower meadows which flower from May to late July – providing seed for ongoing meadow restoration in collaboration with Dorset Wildlife Trust. This work has also given us a charitable status in our partnership with Giving Works.

Letting wildlife be wild!

Hogchester is host to 20 acres of established flower-rich hay meadows and 30 acres of rewilded land. Rewilding is a conservation strategy that involves restoring ecosystems to allow nature to take care of itself. With consistent management, rewilding leads to sustainable lives for wild plants and animals and allows rare species to thrive

A stunning wasp spider – a sustainable colony of over 200 live on Hogchester’

Conservation volunteers meet with us every Monday afternoon and follow the rhythm of the season. We work mostly with hand tools in partnership with nature; managing hedgerows and keeping dominant plant species in check. We love burning gorse on a cold wintery afternoon and getting our waders on to manage the reedbeds in our ponds. In the summer, we hand-harvest wildflower seeds and pitch them into the meadows makers project.

The birds of
Hogchester

Our resident birder Brendan deserves a special mention. Over the past 5 years, he has documented the heath of 5,000 birds on Hogchester land – from a staggering 120 species! His data records support the British Trust for Ornithology in tracking shifting migration habits in response to climate change and the general health of our resident bird population.