Explore
Heal Somerset is a 460 acre site of beautiful, undulating Somerset countryside on what was once an old dairy farm.
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Our goal is to restore fully functioning ecosystems by giving nature space to restore itself – space where trees, plants and wildflowers can regenerate, where animals can live freely and vulnerable species can recover. We are capturing specific, meaningful habitat and species data, so that we can provide scientific evidence that our efforts are making a difference.
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The first signs of change are invisible to the human eye, occurring deep in the soil and at the invertebrate level. However, we are already beginning to see exciting changes above ground, such as the emergence of new trees and plants, and the return of certain species.
Exploring Heal Somerset
Heal Somerset has two open access areas. These are our Southern and Eastern Fields. There are mown paths to follow all over both areas., shown in the map below.
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The 'you are here' marker points to the car park.
Onsite projects
As you explore our beautiful site, you may come across signs of some of our recent and ongoing projects. Each of these is contributing in a meaningful way to our mission of giving nature the breathing space it needs to heal.
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Newt ponds:
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We currently have seven test pits dotted around our Heal Somerset site - these look a bit odd as they are just fairly small (but deep!) pits dug into the ground! We are testing to see whether these pits retain water throughout the Great Crested Newt breeding season (from mid-March through to mid-July). If the test pits are successful, the next stage is to dig various full-sized ponds.​​
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Hydrological interventions:
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We are currently in talks with FWAG and the Environment Agency to fund wetland restoration across Heal Somerset. If this goes ahead, it will ​​be a fairly impactful project which will include filling in ditches, restoring natural hydrological functions by reducing the effect of land drains, digging scrapes and building leaky dams. This is a slow-starting project so you shouldn't see much of this as you explore the site... yet!
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Woodland regeneration management:
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This project is our way of addressing the challenge of a swelling deer population preventing the regeneration of key habitats and disrupting delicate natural processes. Our goal is to significantly reduce the deer browsing pressure on new vegetation growth on our land. To achieve this, we are erecting a perimeter fence around a 71ha section of the site. You can learn more about this project here.
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Pigs:
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Heal Somerset is home to two Tamworth Pigs, who act as ecosystem engineer proxies for wild boar. You can learn more about Ticket and Tailor (our two pigs) here.
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Volunteers:
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On any given day you may see some of our volunteers out and about on the land. They may be surveying species, helping with practical maintenance, or working on one of the projects mentioned above. They are a friendly bunch so do say hello!
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Path mowing:
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To facilitate our visitors to explore the site fully, we have a series of mown paths meandering across the land. You may come across Jeremy mowing these as you explore!​
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Facilities
We have a compostable toilet onsite, found within a small wooden hut by the car park.
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Our Information Station (a short distance up the lane over the road) contains a wealth of information about recent species sightings, please do add anything new to our list!
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The mown paths which crisscross the Southern and Eastern Fields should be clear and easy to follow, but the map should serve as a helpful guide. We have printed maps available at the Information Station.
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Access information for emergencies can be found both at the car park and in the Information Station.