IT HAS been seven months in the making.

Winchester College pupils have been working on an important rewilding project near Basingstoke at a farm once part of The Vyne estate.

Their aim is to create a 'wildlife corridor' connecting the estate with its parish church in Sherborne St John, working together with neighbouring landowners.

The initiative will also benefit the thousands of walkers who weekly take the footpath between the two.

Project leader Mr Adam Rattray, Head of Art History at Winchester College said: “The figures for global biodiversity collapse are alarming: one million species of animals are now under threat, as are a quarter of all plants. It is not just governments that have to change – we all do, in our gardens, where we holiday, how we consume, how we look after the fragile environments for which we are responsible.

"With our pupils’ help, the aim of this important rewilding project will be achieved, which is to create a wildlife corridor through which species can move across the countryside without interruption.”

These are still early days for the project, which will continue into next year, but already there has been noticeable change.

­Badgers, voles, hawks, and butterflies have returned in their thousands; the grassland hums with insect life and the hedges resound to choruses of birdsong; and grass snakes have returned, monitored by project partner the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Amphibian and Reptile Group.

Winchester College pupils have undertaken the following works to date:

  • ­ Cut back overgrown willow trees to encourage more delicate plants to grow.
  • ­ Grass in fields has been allowed to grow wild and paths have been cut.
  • ­ Log piles have been placed strategically around the fields to provide a habitat for insects.
  • ­ 12 beehives have been installed on the site.
  • ­ Scrapes (shallow seasonal ponds) in the old watercress beds have been restored to attract wildlife.
  • ­ 2,800 native hedgerow whips have been planted both sides of the main footpath.
  • ­ Hundreds of flowering plants have been planted to add variety and interest to fields stripped by 70 years of intensive grazing and fertilisation.

Mr Rattray will be giving a talk about the project to residents of Sherborne St John on Sunday June 27. A public information board on the site will follow along with a website dedicated to the project.

Read more: https://www.winchestercollege.org/stories/a-walk-on-the-wild-side.