| Priorities | People, place, nature, climate |
| Lead | National Trust |
| Funding partners | Forest for Cornwall, DEFRA, England Trees Action Plan, Nature for Climate Fund, and Cornwall National Landscape |
| Community involvement | Gunwalloe Parish Meeting, local residents, Mullion Primary School, volunteers, National Trust members, visitors, local farmers and contractors |
Summary
Phase 2 of a project to further restore the landscape through demolition of inappropriate buildings, adaptive reuse of traditional buildings, improved visitor experience (new accessible toilets and café), increased understanding of local heritage and improvements to the surrounding farmland through habitat creation and extended public access.
Progress
Since 2018, the National Trust and local community have been restoring nature, improving access and strengthening climate resilience across Winnianton Farm.
© National Trust Images/Catherine Lee
© National Trust Images/MikeHardy
Our first major step was renovating the farmhouse, which is now a holiday cottage providing essential income for conservation work across the farm. Redundant farm sheds and infrastructure have been removed, opening up new views, and traditional stone buildings are being maintained while we develop plans and seek further funding. Longer term, we plan to improve visitor facilities by relocating the toilets and café into or within the footprint of these historic buildings.
Since the project started, land has been managed to build soil health and reduce soil nutrients, and hedgerows have been left uncut to benefit biodiversity. Wildlife-friendly grass margins now surround every field and birds of prey regularly hunt along them, which is an encouraging sign of ecosystem recovery. Each spring, five hectares (approximately seven football fields) of arable land are sown with bird seed crops to support farmland birds during the winter period.
During 2024–25 we planted new woodland corridors, restored a historic orchard and created 18 small tree clusters to benefit wildlife. We reseeded half the farm with species-rich grassland and will complete the rest by 2028. Farm infrastructure improvements continue in preparation for cattle returning by 2030.
We have created a new circular footpath, alongside which is over 650 metres of newly planted hedgerow.