A blooming landscape of heathland restoration, open for special events which help people connect to nature
More than 135 gardens and parks are now open through advance booking, as well as hundreds of coast and countryside places. A number of houses are also open in England and Northern Ireland. Read this article to find out what's open and what to expect from your visit.
Open for special events only, Foxbury is our groundbreaking heathland restoration project: a 150 hectare site of dry and wet heathland, ponds and woodland, already colonised by many rare heathland wildlife specialists.
Acquired in 2005 through Grantscape funding, the site is gradually being restored to its natural state of lowland heathland and native broad-leafed woodland habitats, after years as a commercial conifer plantation.
It's coloured by yellow flowering gorse, purple heathers, flourishing orchids and foxgloves, blossoming trees in their infancy, and braided with miles of gravel trackways. Belted Galloway cattle and New Forest ponies lazily graze underneath newly exposed English oaks. On warm summer evenings the ‘churrs’ of many secretive nightjars combine to create a captivating soundscape. While silhouettes of bats dart overhead, deer melt into the cover of woodland and the green cosmic light of glow worms pepper the tracksides.
The site is also part of a Heritage Lottery Fund project called ‘Our Past, Our Future’, which is funding tree planting and helping to build new infrastructure within Foxbury that facilitates educational and recreational activities. Special events range from 'wild' play days to ranger-led bird walks, all with the aim of helping visitors get closer to nature.
Most of our places run the Gift Aid on Entry scheme at their admission points.
Under this scheme, if you're not a member you have the choice of two entry tickets:
If the place runs Gift Aid on Entry, we'll offer you a clear choice between the Gift Aid Admission prices and the Standard Admission prices at the admission point. It's entirely up to you which ticket you choose.
Gift Aid Admission includes a 10 per cent or more voluntary donation. Gift Aid Admissions let us reclaim tax on the whole amount paid - an extra 25 per cent - potentially a very significant boost to our places' funds.
An extra £1 paid under the scheme can be worth over £3 to the National Trust as shown below:
| Gift Aid | Standard | |
|---|---|---|
| Amount paid by visitor | £11.00 | £10.00 |
| Tax refund from Government* | £2.75 | £0.00 |
| Total received by the National Trust | £13.75 | £10.00 |
*Gift Aid Admissions let us reclaim tax on the whole amount paid - an extra 25 per cent - potentially a very significant boost to our places' funds.
Access for events only. Please check our What's On listings.
