Anyone who has driven down the Military Road near Compton Bay will know the land, even if they don’t know it by name. It’s the large section of land that sits on the right side of the road as you drive towards Freshwater.
These 400 acres of the West Wight, know as Dunsbury Farm, were up for sale recently inviting, “Offers in excess of £2,700,000”.
It’s now been announced the National Trust (NT) has bought it for £2.7m.
A crucial piece of the coastal jigsaw
The purpose of the purchase, the National Trust say, is to “create the right farmland habitat for wildlife to flourish”.
Tony Tutton, National Trust Isle of Wight General Manager, told OnTheWight ,
“It’s a long-term piece of thinking to allow access to Compton Bay and its wildlife for decades to come.
“It’s not about now or tomorrow, or next week – it’s about the long term future and that will be Future Coast.
“It also gives a future to Compton Farm – already owned by the National Trust.
“It will give the Downs and the coastline a sustainable future, as a viable unit.”
He went on to add,
“This farm is a crucial piece of the coastal jigsaw for the National Trust on the Isle of Wight. It allows us to plan for the future of a coast which is eroding at a rate of 1.5 metres per year, allowing us to maintain access to this much loved part of the Island, and to re-wild this landscape, making it healthy and beautiful for the future.
“Our plan is to introduce the sort of farming that will be an exemplar, by being both productive, and good for wildlife.
“Given time and lots of hard work the farm will also become a vital place where we can combine people’s enjoyment of butterflies and farmland birds with the stunning views along the chalk cliffs towards the Needles.”
Rare flora and butterflies
The wildlife that the NT are keen to protect, through the purchase, include the Adonis blue, Common blue and Chalkhill blue butterflies, as well as the rare Glanville Fritillary butterfly. Compton Bay is the traditional stronghold of that population, they say.
Where you have butterflies, you’ll usually find flowers. According to the Trust, the area is also an oasis for wildflowers, including at least seven species of orchid and the internationally rare early gentian.
The return of farmland birds
It’s not just butterflies the National Trust are aiming to protect. They’re hoping the once a common sight of farmland birds, such as the linnet, Dartford warbler, stonechat, meadow pipit, skylark, gold finch, bullfinch, hedge sparrow, grey partridge and yellow hammer, will return.
Providing mixed farming on the land, as well growing wheat grown will provide the important diversity for wildlife.
What’s included in the sale
Studying the sale detail, it appears that the living accommodation on the farm was excluded from the sale. Four farm buildings are included in the sale.
The land Breaks down as: 147 acres of irrigated arable land, 233 acres of grassland and 23 acres of woodland – with the whole farm covering 407.29 acres.
Field edges will be unkempt and crop stubble will be left to provide winter food for birds.
Neptune Coastline Campaign
It’s all part of the fiftieth year of the National Trust’s Neptune Coastline Campaign of which Dunsbury is the third major acquisition.
Funding for the project has come from legacies and the thousands of Neptune Campaign supporters.
