Restoring nature in the chalk valleys of southern Wiltshire
About Sutton Mead
Sutton Mead is a 95-acre rural property in the village of Sutton Mandeville, in the Nadder Valley of southern Wiltshire.
For generations the land was managed primarily as sheep pasture. Today, it is being carefully restored into a richer and more ecologically diverse rural landscape through woodland expansion, wetland creation, species-rich meadow management, low-intensity farming, and long-term ecological care.
Sutton Mead is not a wilderness project or a closed nature reserve. It remains a lived-in and working rural place – shaped by water, woodland, traditional land management, and low intensity farming.
The site lies within the Cranborne Chase National Landscape and its International Dark Sky Reserve, in one of southern England’s most important chalk river catchments. The River Nadder flows directly through the land and is designated both a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and Special Area of Conservation (SAC), placing Sutton Mead at the heart of one of the distinctive chalk valley ecosystems of southern England.
This website offers a simple introduction to Sutton Mead, the restoration work taking place on the land, and opportunities for collaboration, including Biodiversity Net Gain partnerships.
Connected Habitats
Woodland
The woodland at Sutton Mead is being actively managed to maximise biodiversity by creating a greater variety of ecological conditions, including open glades, edge habitats, and encouraging standing and fallen deadwood. Invasive rhododendron and waste from former pheasant shoots are being removed, allowing natural ground flora to recover.
The woods are also being expanded and reconnected. The aim is to eventually double the woodland cover on the land through a combination of natural regeneration and new planting, helping reconnect fragmented woodland blocks and create wildlife corridors through the Nadder Valley.
Together, these actions will create healthier, more connected, and more ecologically diverse woodlands capable of supporting a richer variety of birds, insects, fungi, mammals, and other wildlife over the long term.
The restoration of healthier, more connected woodland forms a particularly important part of the wider vision for Sutton Mead.
Wetland & Springs
The River Nadder flows through Sutton Mead, linking the land to one of southern England’s most important chalk river systems. The land is also fed by a series of natural chalk springs that help shape the character of the site and have the potential to support a rich variety of wetland habitats.
These spring systems provide the conditions for the sensitive restoration of the water meadows into a mosaic of ponds, scrapes, wet grassland and flooded woodland. Together, these habitats will create conditions for amphibians, aquatic invertebrates, wetland birds, fish, and a wide range of other wildlife.
This work will improve hydrology and increase seasonal water storage, helping slow the movement of water through the landscape while restoring wetland habitats that have become increasingly rare across the British countryside.
Water is central to the character of Sutton Mead, and the recovery of these wet habitats forms a key part of the wider restoration of the land.
Meadows & Wood Pasture
Former pasture is being restored into a mosaic of species-rich grassland, scattered scrub, hedgerows, orchards, and grazed wood pasture – habitats once characteristic of the wider Nadder Valley.
These areas will be managed through low-intensity grazing – by native livestock breeds – helping maintain a varied structure of grass heights, open ground, scrub margins, and lightly wooded pasture. This diversity of conditions creates habitat for pollinators, birds, small mammals, reptiles, and a wide range of plant species.
New hedgerows, orchards, and areas of wood pasture will also help connect different parts of the site, creating shelter, nesting habitat, and movement corridors for wildlife.
The aim is not to create highly managed ornamental meadows, but a dynamic and evolving pastoral landscape shaped by grazing animals, seasonal change, and long-term ecological management.
Long-Term Stewardship
Sutton Mead is managed by Eeva Kuisma, Nick Radford, and Steve Radford.
Eeva and Nick, who live on site in a 500-year-old cottage at the centre of the land, are trained biologists with professional backgrounds in wildlife conservation and ecological management, and Eeva is also a qualified veterinarian. Together they bring experience in conservation, ecology, and long-term land stewardship developed through years of conservation work in the UK and internationally.
Sutton Mead is not managed as a short-term environmental project, but as a long-term commitment to the gradual restoration and care of the land. The work is led by people living and working on site, keeping decisions about the land closely connected to its day-to-day condition and long-term ecological health.
Restoration work is approached gradually and practically, with an emphasis on continuity, ecological function, and careful stewardship over time.
Biodiversity Net Gain
Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) is a system introduced in England that requires most new housing developments to leave biodiversity in a measurably better state than before development takes place. In practice, this means developers often purchase BNG units that fund the creation and long-term management of new wildlife habitat elsewhere.
At Sutton Mead, BNG forms part of the long-term funding for the restoration and management of the land. Habitat creation and enhancement across the site will generate BNG units through the restoration of woodland, wetland, meadow, scrub, hedgerow, and wood pasture habitats within a nationally important chalk river landscape.
Ecological surveys, habitat planning, and Biodiversity Net Gain delivery are being developed in partnership with Bidwells, one of the UK’s leading environmental and rural property consultancies.
If you are a developer interested in purchasing BNG units at Sutton Mead, please click below to learn more.