Countryside Stewardship Scheme

Nurturing the Land: Improving Biodiversity on the Estate with the Countryside Stewardship Scheme

When visitors arrive at Rathfinny, they often ask about the land behind the Winery, making up the northern half of the Estate. For years it was farmed as arable fields, but today it tells a different story. As a single-site producer, we’ve always valued quality over quantity, planting vines only on the very best plots of our south-facing chalk slopes. This left more than 200 acres of our South Downs free to dedicate to nature through the Countryside Stewardship Scheme. This land is undergoing a process of regeneration: enhancing biodiversity, restoring soils and creating habitats that support wildlife across the seasons. Rathfinny Brand Ambassador, Richard James DipWSET, explains more. 

I‘ve been lucky enough to live and work on the Rathfinny Estate for the past 14 years. Starting out my career as a Countryside Officer pre-the current National Park Authority, I never imagined I would end up being a Brand Ambassador for a Wine Estate. Being part of Estate life for the past decade has been some of the most rewarding and exciting environmental work I have done. 

A History of Arable Farming

Before Rathfinny became a Wine Estate, it was a 600-acre arable farm. For 50-years, the land was intensively farmed for wheat, corn and other grains. Sadly, the farm was a case study in monoculture, devoid of much life beyond the crops.

Thankfully, this has all now changed.

Since being part of the Estate, I have witnessed the return of skylarks and corm buntings to name but a few. Not to mention a dazzling array of bees and rare chalk grassland flora. In large part, this is due to Mark & Sarah Driver (Rathfinny Owners), who always saw nurturing the land – both restoring what had been lost and protecting what we still had – as key to  sustainability, alongside caring for the community, their staff and reducing our overall footprint.

Creating Sustainable Habitats

In this blog, I will take you through the habitats we’ve created and why they matter.

Legume Fallow Mix at Rathfinny: Restoring Soil Health and Supporting Pollinators 

Rathfinny has sown over 130 acres of legume fallow mixes to enrich soil, reduce fertiliser use and provide habitats for pollinators and birds. 

Much of our Estate now rests under a 130-acre legume fallow mix (plants of the pea family) . If you have visited, this is mostly the area above the Winery and Flint Barns that is on your right as you drive through the Estate. 

From a wildlife perspective, I have seen these fields go from 0 – 60 in terms of wildlife. In the spring, blossoms attract bees, butterflies and hoverflies, while the dense cover offers shelter for small mammals and ground-nesting birds. As the seasons shift, the fallow mixes transform into midsummer meadows and by autumn they’re full of seed and cover for wintering wildlife. It is underground that the transformation is really at play. 

These fields are sown with clovers, vetches and other leguminous plants that fix nitrogen in the soil, returning it to historic levels. The deep-rooted plants also help improve the soil structure and microbiome. 

Healthy soils aren’t just good for growing crops on; they are living systems which are at huge risk across the UK (and world). It is the soil health – full of microbes, fungi and invertebrates – that are the foundation for food webs.

Nectar Flower Mix: A Continuous Food Source for Pollinating Insects

Rathfinny has planted over 20-acres of nectar flower mixes to support bees, butterflies, hoverflies, and other pollinators across the growing season. 

If you stand in the middle of one of our flower mixes in the western half of our Estate, you’ll feel surrounded by life. These areas are carefully planted to provide a succession of flowers – from early spring right through to late autumn – ensuring that pollinators always have something to feed on. 

Bees and butterflies are obvious visitors, but look closer and you’ll spot hoverflies, moths, beetles and countless other insects that form the base of the food chain. Birds and bats, too, benefit from the abundance of insect life these flowers support.  You can hear the wildlife.

Pollination is one of the most important ecosystem services we rely on. The vines are wind pollinators, so do not directly benefit from the pollinators.  By planting nectar-rich strips across the Estate, we’re doing our part to help stabilise pollinator numbers and create vibrant biodiverse corridors through the South Downs, connecting habitats and providing space for wildlife.  

Species-Rich Grassland: Protecting Chalk Downland Habitats 

Rathfinny manages over 15-acres of species-rich chalk grassland, conserving one of the UK’s rarest and most biodiverse habitats. 

The South Downs are famous for their chalk grasslands. These are flower-rich habitats, with flora and fauna that evolved over thousands of years alongside traditional grazing practices. These unique habitats have become increasingly rare across Britain. 

We inherited some of our chalk grassland on the south side of the Cradle Valley, which are classified as a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI). Over the years we have been able to expand the area through our careful management. We help to manage these grasslands with controlled grazing from large herbivores such as Exmoor Ponies in collaboration with the Changing Chalk initiative. The grazing helps push back thickets and ensure they remain rich in wildflowers like orchids, knapweeds and scabious. 

Chalk grasslands are sometimes referred to as the ‘rainforest of Europe’ owing to their richness and biodiversity. We’re fortunate to be custodians of this land for future generations. Through clearing of scrub and grazing of the calcareous grassland, we help create a habitat mosaic with a balance between the flower rich grassland and the scrubland. 

As someone who has spent countless hours surveying these habitats, I can say with confidence: chalk grassland is one of Britain’s ecological treasures and helping to protect it is both a responsibility and a joy.