National Trust celebrates 80th anniversary of much-loved Killerton and Holnicote

In 1944 Sir Richard Dyke Acland and his wife Lady Anne made the decision to hand over their ancestral estates to the conservation charity as being hereditary landowners was at odds with their political beliefs. Their wish was that the land be enjoyed by everyone and for the countryside to be protected. 

Today, as well as welcoming visitors throughout the year, both estates are home to pioneering nature conservation projects.  

At Holnicote, these include the re-introduction of beavers to Exmoor, the Stage Zero river restoration where the River Aller has been reconnected to its original floodplain [3] and one of the biggest woodland regeneration projects the National Trust has undertaken at Doverhay near Porlock where 13,000 trees have been planted during the past two years. 

At Killerton, work is now underway on the Three Rivers Landscape Recovery project where the aim is to create a landscape more resilient in the face of floods and drought, as well as attracting more wildlife. This nature regeneration work builds on the success of the award-winning delivery of the Green Recovery Challenge Fund on the estate. The Killerton team are delighted to report two species of butterfly return after a 20-year gap, cirl buntings nesting and an increase in bats, as well as breeding barn owls. 

To celebrate the anniversary on Wednesday 31 January, Killerton is opening its gates to the public for free. Visitors can explore the chapel, garden and historic parkland, plus the first 80 visitors will receive a special commemorative badge. This echoes the sentiment of Sir Francis Dyke Acland who said, ‘There's no point in having a nice place like this unless we can get it full of people.'   

During half-term on Wednesday 14 February, visitors to Killerton can enjoy an immersive interactive tour of the 12,500 acre Holnicote Estate using virtual reality headsets. The experience allows viewers to ‘fly’ over the estate’s diverse landscape which encompasses woodland, coast and high moorland sites within Exmoor National Park, experiencing it in never-before-seen ways both on ground-level and with high resolution 360° aerial footage.  

Simon Larkins, General Manager at the Holnicote Estate and Phillip Smart, General Manager at the Killerton Estate both agreed: “The legacy of the Acland family’s gift is the protection of these beautiful places where wildlife thrives and everyone is welcome to explore. Our teams work hard to look after these diverse landscapes, nurturing and restoring their unique natural characteristics and undertaking innovative conservation projects that tackle threats to nature such as climate change. With this focus, we are ensuring the long-term future of our places and the communities who call them home. We like to think Sir Richard and Lady Anne would be proud of our approach and the work carried out. ” 

Dominic Acland, eldest grandson of Sir Richard and Lady Anne, also commented: “Richard was an early advocate for a "holistic" approach to the combined social and environmental challenges that were emerging during his time and that we face in ever more extreme ways today. I know that he and Anne would, as I do, take immense pleasure in seeing how the National Trust is increasingly putting the needs of nature and people at the front of its thinking and actions across the estates.

“We've seen barn owls return to the fields around us after a 30 year absence and I know this is just one of many conservation successes for the estates. Alongside this, their role as recreational spaces and working landscapes is more and more important and valued.”