Honeygar FAQs

Honeygar in folk medicine is a mix of honey and apple cider vinegar and has been purported to have health benefits since ancient times. However, our Honeygar seems to have a different derivation.

Historic maps show Honeygar Farm being known as Honeygore or Honey Gore Farm, but more recent ones refer to it as Honeygar Farm. Honeygore as the site’s original place name makes sense as gore refer to islands or dry land surrounded by water, and this has most probably been prefixed by a personal name for the Anglo-Saxon owner.  The site’s name, like many, has evolved over time but we will be keeping with Honeygar for the next chapter in the site’s fascinating history.

Honeygar is strategically located in the centre of the Avalon Marshes.  Wilded, it can connect existing nature-rich areas to help nature spread across the landscape and the wider county beyond. Restoring the land for nature and allowing natural processes to function will provide significant opportunities for populations of rare and precious species to spread and flourish.

Honeygar still has metres of peat soils across the site. Lowland peat takes a very long time to build up and today it’s rare to find a site like this as so much peat has been dug up in Somerset and elsewhere. In fact, it is continuing to be dug today for horticultural use, which is something we are campaigning to stop. It’s vital that we preserve remaining peatlands.

At Honeygar we are looking to turn lowland peatlands that have been dried over decades, and hence are now emitting carbon and do not support the range of species they could, into a wet peatland, supporting nature-rich habitats and storing carbon. When we bought the land, most of the site was part of a drainage scheme, designed to remove water and maintain a low water table to deliver agricultural practices. We have adjusted the hydrology on site to enable the peat soils to recover and, in discussion with our direct neighbours, adjusted grazing and cutting regimes.

Honeygar will no longer be a dairy farm but our approach will we believe demonstrate a way for others to generate an income in the future through payments for nature-based solutions, like storing carbon and improving water quality and biodiversity, something the government is encouraging all farmers to do through their new Environmental Land Management Schemes.

Honeygar and the issue of food security

Land at Honeygar has not been taken out of circulation for food production under the Trust’s ownership. Before we purchased Honeygar, the land has been grazed by dairy cows. Currently there are no supply issues with regards to milk production in the UK ^[1], so our plan to change the kind of cattle we might use for new grazing regimes on the site will not have any significant impact on supply.  Any animals we use for grazing will also be entering the food supply chain, as beef or lamb for example, so the land will remain in food production - but just not to an intensive level, or as a main source of income. Less intensive grazing, fewer animals per hectare allowed to roam larger areas will help us mimic a more natural approach to this landscape.

In the context of food production, if the land was not grazed, there is no other viable alternative. There are other forms of land management that would bring in alternative income, but it is acknowledged in the farming community that the Levels does not lend itself to arable farming. This is due to the fact that is low lying land and, in particular, because peat soils are delicate and degrade far faster than other soil types when ploughed and, as they dry out, they increase run off and thus flood risk further. Food grown on peat soils in particular, will have a far high carbon footprint than the same food produced on non peat soils given the amount of carbon that is released when they are intensively farmed.

^[1] Reference for this: United Kingdom Food Security Report 2021: Theme 2: UK Food Supply Sources - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Honeygar is less than a mile from our Catcott nature reserve (SSSI, SPA). The starting point for Catcott was similar to Honeygar, agricultural land with drained peat soils. Our expectation is that similar habitats will emerge. Once the peat soils are wetter, we hope then to see a range of species emerge.

We have made fantastic progress on site and are already seeing species start to return such as snipe, harvest mice and a huge range of pollinators and dragonflies. We have installed all the bunds planned to isolate Honeygar from the drainage system holding water on site to restore the peat, and we’ve developed exciting and innovative partnerships to monitor changes. Watch this space!

Our plan is to develop the buildings at Honeygar sustainably in order to create an international centre for lowland peat research - a place where we can invite people to share what we learn and take that back to other projects in the wider conservation field. Our plans to develop the building are around that purpose.

Where possible, as many buildings as possible at Honeygar will be restored or converted, not built from scratch. This project aims to be zero carbon in use, no nutrients will be discharged into watercourses, and no materials (except for deleterious materials like asbestos cement) will be leaving the site. All buildings will also incorporate wildlife habitats and seek to enhance biodiversity as much as possible.

Following a thorough tender process assessing over 90 firms against our key principles for the project, the firms Poynton Bradbury and Clementine Blakemore Architects were selected

Poynton Bradbury have a very clear commitment to sustainability and alignment with our aims.  They are a certified B Corporation and signatories to the RIBA 2030 Climate Challenge.  They have a long track record of refurbishment and reuse, and of sustainable buildings, not least of which is the Green Build Hub (Headquarters of the Cornwall Sustainable Building Trust).  

Clementine Blakemore Architects have worked in the South West almost since their formation and have a longstanding relationship with Dorset Wildlife Trust.  They have a demonstrable track record of collaborating with communities and with conservationists and ecologists to deliver buildings that fully consider social and environmental impact.  Their recent Wraxall Yard scheme is an outstanding example of reuse of farm buildings in a sensitive, inclusive and sustainable way.

There is a public footpath that runs from the Burtle Road up the drive to the farm and passes around the site of the old farm buildings to join Honeygar Lane. We will over time be adding more footpaths and running events at Honeygar and, as part of our second phase of work, will be creating sustainable buildings to support those who are working and visiting Honeygar. For now, you must keep to the public footpath and keep your dog on a lead as there may be livestock on site and ground-nesting birds.