Somerset Wildlands
Athelney, Somerset Levels
Our partner, Somerset Wildlands, is rewilding the Somerset Levels and Moors in the South-West of England, helping to return a bit more life and wildness to the area.
Once this region was a vast, wild wetland teeming with life, from pelicans to lynx and beavers to sturgeon. Somerset Wildland’s approach is to restore some of that lost wildlife and wildness through a process of distributed rewilding they call, ‘wild stepping stones’.
They currently have 4 sites, spanning 105 acres and are looking to expand further. The primary site Wilderkind is supporting is 73 acres and began its journey of recovery in September 2022.
Take a tour of the site
Drone footage recorded by Rupert Barry.
Data recorded by Sensat using photogrammetric & LiDaR drones. The site will be recorded regularly to see how it develops over time
Upcoming projects
Wilderkind & Somerset Wildlands have several projects lined up to measure and boost ecological complexity and abundance in the Somerset Levels, including initial survey work, creating scrapes and reprofiling ditches, and raising local water levels to allow a more natural watery habitat to develop.
Echoes through time
In 876 AD, England was a fragmented land, divided into four kingdoms - Wessex, Mercia, Northumbria, and East Anglia. The Vikings had seized control of all the kingdoms, except for Wessex, which was governed by King Alfred. In a surprise attack, a large Danish army overpowered the Saxons at Chippenham, killing many and scattering the rest. With the last Saxon kingdom on the brink of defeat, King Alfred sought refuge in the Somerset Levels, a marshy river delta, which proved an ideal sanctuary from the Viking whose ships couldn’t navigate the complex system.
The Levels provided a safe haven for King Alfred to gather his forces and plan his next move. However, maintaining an army requires food, and the abundant ecosystem of the Levels provided Alfred's forces with an almost unlimited source of fish, birds, and deer. This crucial source of food helped Alfred and his army to retake Wessex, laying the foundation for the eventual unification of the four kingdoms into the England we know today.
Ancient hedgerows expanding as trees self-seed
Today, Britain's biodiversity is at a tipping point on the brink of collapse, but the story of the Somerset Levels offers hope for recovery. By allowing nature the time and space it needs to regenerate, as we are doing at the Levels, rewilding can help restore Britain's ecosystems to their former glory. In our work with the Somerset Wildlands, we can look to the past for inspiration, and to the Somerset Levels as a beacon of hope for the future.
