The National Trust has finalised a deal to acquire 408-acres of land in the West Wight at a cost of £2.7 million – the biggest coastal land acquisition in two decades.
The land at Dunsbury Farm has been purchased from Patrick Seely and will not only help preserve the future access at Compton, but the trust will work in partnership with Butterfly Conservation to create the right conditions to safeguard and improve the habitat of a rare butterfly, the Glanville fritillary.
Flora and fauna is also set to benefit in the deal, with an oasis of wildflowers such as the internationally rare early gentian and at least seven species of orchid growing in the area. It is also hoped that the land deal will result in farmland birds returning to the area including the linnet, Dartford warbler, meadow pipit,skylark, bullfinch, hedge sparrow, grey partridge and yellowhammer.
Livestock such as cattle and sheep will be grazed on the 165 hectares of land and crops grown, including wheat.
Funding to buy the farm came from a mixture of legacies and from the thousands of supporters who have given to the trust’s Neptune Coastline Campaign, which is 50 years old this year.
National Trust Isle of Wight general manager Tony Tutton said:
“This farm is a crucial piece of the coastal jigsaw for the National Trust on the Isle of Wight. It allows us to plan for the future of a coast which is eroding at a rate of 1.5 metres per year, allowing us to maintain access to this much loved part of the island, and to rewild this landscape, making it healthy and beautiful for the future.
“Our plan is to introduce the sort of farming that will be an exemplar, by being both productive, and good for wildlife. Given time and lots of hard work the farm will also become a vital place where we can combine people’s enjoyment of butterflies and farmland birds with the stunning views along the chalk cliffs towards the Needles.”
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Photograph: John Miller/National Trust Images
