ES & Historic Parkland

We undertook a national study on behalf of Natural England to assess the impacts of Environmental Stewardship (ES) upon the conservation and restoration of historic parklands, and to devise a methodology for prioritising funding.  We studied 25 parks throughout the country and devised a method of scoring the impacts that ES was having via tailored HLS schemes.  Capturing both qualitative and quantitative data, we were able to summarise the main effects of ES in relation to historic parks, providing a series of key messages that we then used to inform a set of key recommendations for improvement of the underlying structure to the HLS scheme.

In addition to this, we devised a methodology for use by Natural England’s officers in order to assess and prioritise historic parklands for funding through HLS.  This was supplemented by a ‘toolkit’ guide to understanding the main features, characteristics and origins of historic parklands throughout England. 

We are delighted that this study received Highly Commended in the 2014 Landscape Institute Awards.

Similar projects: Stoke Park LVA Fawsley Park LVA