Estate History

Shotesham Park Estate is set in the beautiful Tas Valley seven miles south of the historic city of Norwich. Long history as a farming estate, once home to the D’Oyley family then sold to the Fellowes family in 1731.

In 1789 construction of the new hall was completed. Commissioned by Robert Fellowes, the son of philanthropist William Fellowes who founded the Norfolk and Norwich hospital, the house was one of the first major works of the architect Sir John Soane. 

In the years after the First World War there was little money in farming or property and much of the estate was broken up and sold off, though the core of the estate remained in the Fellowes family until 1979. Ten years later Shotesham Park was bought by the Bailey family, who took on the monumental work to salvage what little remained of the farm and largely derelict Grade 1 listed house.

It took three years to control the outbreaks of wet and dry rot, restore the roof, install a heating system and make parts of the house habitable again, but work on the property was a constant for the next 10 years. Some of the scars of the past have been purposefully left open like the billeting details written on the attic doors from the house’s occupation by American soldiers during the second world war. 

The estate required a great deal of attention and over the past three decades the Bailey family: modernised the farmyard, bought several parcels of land back into the estate, improved the health of the soil, implemented a robust programme of woodland management together with extensive replanting of trees and hedges, and entered into higher tier environmental stewardship schemes with the goal of improving both productivity and local biodiversity.

Farming

Shotesham Park manages their arable farm in hand, growing cereals, oilseed rape, beans and sugarbeet on a 7 year rotation. The underlying ethos directing much of the decision making, that soil health is the key to sustainable and profitable farming. Constantly adding organic matter across the estate land and improving the structure of the soil. To meet this goal the estate predominantly use organic fertiliser, minimise ploughing and utilise GPS technology to fix tramlines and lessen the area of land compacted by farm machinery.
 
Through use of cover crops, direct drilling, wide field margins and a number of other measures, the estate is constantly exploring ways in which it can reduce consumption of agricultural chemicals. The research groups and farmer to farmer knowledge sharing networks that the estate is a part of are the valuable tools utilised to continue improve farming practises.
Supported by:
The European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development: Europe investing in rural areas
Soil Sustainability Project – The purchase of a direct drill as part of our shift into conservation agriculture

Conservation

We are proud to be participants in the Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier scheme. As a part of this scheme we dedicate a significant area of the farm to nectar flower mixes, wild bird seed mixes and buffer strips, additionally we drill winter cover crops and spread winter bird food. Hedge planting also helps increase biodiversity – we now have over 10 miles of hedgerows across the estate. Much of this has been planted over the past 30 years around field and woodland edges to offer habitats for wildlife and to warm and protect the soils and woods.
 
By choosing to support biodiversity across the estate in this manner we are creating a richer and more balanced local environment. We regularly organise wildlife surveys across the estate and have been delighted with the discovery that we are home to several target conservation species, alongside an abundance of other insects, birds, mammals and aquatic animals.

Managed Woodland

There are 250 acres of woodland across the estate, much of it centred around the original park. The commercial management of the woodland is tempered by our need to encourage undergrowth renewal and provide roosting sites. The area is traditionally populated by British oak and we aim to continue that heritage with new plantings built around a 100 year oak cycle.
 
Alongside the oak you will find beech, walnut, plane trees and hornbeam as well as shrubs such as holly, hazel, blackthorn and spindleberry. Ash has also been historically been used in our planting schemes but this species is now being affected by “ash dieback” and we are actively thinning out diseased trees.
 
Much like on the arable land, we are open to new ideas for supporting biodiversity in the woodlands – this year we aim to create new sheltered and scalloped woodland rides to support butterfly habits and their movement through the woods.

Public Access

There are 5km of public footpaths across the Estate, including part of the 36 mile Boudicca Way which runs between Diss and Norwich.

Smockmill Common, a County Wildlife Site managed in partnership with South Norfolk Council, is also open to members of the public. This 25 acre wooded site includes an area of open grassland with a rich range of flora and is bordered by the river Tas which is a great place to spot dragonflies and, if you are lucky, the elusive otter.

Shotesham Park Stud

Shotesham Park Stud was established 25 years ago with the aim of breeding national hunt horses. From mares to yearlings, the Stud is currently home to 14 thoroughbreds. Once our horses reach the age of 3 they temporarily leave the stud in order to start their training in Oxfordshire.
 
All Shotesham Park racing horses can be identified by either their red and green racing colours or by the name Reflection. Each horse is has their stud name but once registered to compete the name Reflection is added.