Creating a new local woodland

Not many years ago, it was due to being covered in tarmac, now l am pleased to report it is home to thousands of new trees.

I am talking about Bathampton Meadows, which had been threatened with becoming an East of Bath Park and Ride. Now it’s owned by the National Trust, and it’s where nearly 600 people have planted 10,000 trees over the autumn and winter, creating a new wood pasture and 1.5km of hedgerow. 

The meadows sit to the east of Bath, surrounded by Batheaston, Bathford, Bathampton and Larkhall. It is the first of 20 green corridors for the National Trust, linking the city of Bath to the countryside beyond, to end unequal access to nature, beauty and history.

Bathampton Meadows was acquired by the National Trust in 2022 and is being restored to improve both biodiversity and access for visitors, with this woodland creation serving as a key milestone in these ambitions.

Twenty-five native species were chosen for the wood pasture and hedgerows, ranging from oak, lime and field maple, through to wild cherry, wayfaring tree and spindle. Funding of the trees was provided by Forest of Avon, who worked closely with the team to ensure the woodland would have the best chance of long-term success and benefit.

The wood pasture, which sits to the west of Mill Lane, is open to pedestrians to explore, opening up a new area of the Meadows that had been previously unused by the public. The 1.5km of hedgerow is located around the wood pasture and across the site, providing vital nourishment and shelter for insects, birds and small mammals.

Bathampton Meadows is well used by the local community, so it was decided to involve them in the tree planting. Joanne Ranger, Community Ranger, said: “As a community ranger, it was really important to engage as many local people as possible to help create the new local woodland, and I am absolutely delighted with the numbers and enthusiasm of those who came to plant.”

Forty-two planting events were coordinated and delivered to plant the 10,000 trees, with a total of 592 participants. 31% were from youth groups, school and university students, 35% were local community groups and individuals, 23% were National Trust staff and volunteers (Bathampton Meadows, Bath Skyline, Prior Park, Lacock, Ebworth and Avebury), and the remaining 11% were businesses on volunteering days. 

An open community planting day was held in October 2025, with over 140 participants from the local community, a number of whom stayed to plant all day. 1,400 trees were planted in just one day. Feedback collected on the day from the engaged community was positive for all the work that had been done by the National Trust.

The dedicated Bathampton Meadows ranger volunteers spent many hours preparing the site for planting sessions, including using 34,000 bamboo pegs to secure the wool mulch mat for hedgerow planting. A small ‘volunteer’ orchard, with heritage varieties of apples such as Court of Wick, Beauty of Bath and Golden Knob, was planted and dedicated as a thank you to these volunteers. 

On the final tree planting session, Bath Property Group General Manager Tom Boden joined the Bathampton Meadows volunteers to get the remaining 330 trees in the ground. He said, “It is such a huge achievement to deliver this significant project over the autumn and winter, with so many people taking part to help us restore nature. Hats off to the entire team for achieving this.”

In total, tree preparation and planting lasted nearly six months.

More work is still being undertaken to improve biodiversity and access for visitors on Bathampton Meadows. A new permissive path was recently created and opened on the east side of the Meadows, and new benches are being installed across the site.

To find out more about the project, please visit the website www.nationaltrust.org.uk/visit/bath-bristol/bathampton-meadows