About Us

The Spetchley Estate is a family owned, rural estate that has been the home of the Berkeley Family for over 400 years. The estate comprises agricultural land, ancient woodland, parkland, as well as residential and commercial properties with an award-winning garden which is open to visitors. At its heart is a family vision that has shaped the estate as it is today, that has a passion to restore, sustain and enhance the heritage around it. Continuity of the custodianship of the landscape combined with progressive management is key to its longevity and beauty.

What We Do


Health & Welfare

Personal health and welfare are hugely important and at Spetchley there are plenty of opportunities to savour open space with walks around the myriad footpaths that dissect the parkland as well as being able to rent one of the residential or commercial properties which benefit small businesses from their situation in a stunning, unchanged rural setting.

The Gardens

The gardens, famous across the country, are open mid March through to the end of October, offering visitors opportunities to relax or stroll through 30 acres of formal, informal and woodland gardens or enjoy some delicious light refreshments. It is a progressive estate on the doorstep of the historic City of Worcester that puts family first.

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Our Core Aims


Community

To us community spirit is vital on a family estate, and we wish to foster this to positively support our tenants and businesses. Engaging with the local community creates a healthy and vibrant atmosphere whether it be by holding our events, community engagement projects or providing access, whether it be for wellbeing or sports.

A Focal Point

A rural estate like Spetchley has always provided a focal point for rural communities and it is our vision to ensure this continues and grows for the betterment of individuals and local businesses. The Estate hosts the Spetchley Cricket Pitch and Pavilion, used by the local Spetchley village team and surrounding villages.

Sustainability

Understanding our environment is vital to the future of our natural landscape and wellbeing. It is our commitment that we will focus on reducing our carbon emissions across the estate and adapting how we deliver and operate in the coming years. We will be implementing projects that will improve our soil, improve how we capture our carbon, increasing our biodiversity and improving our natural environment. 

Understanding Our Environment

We are committed to understanding our environment and ensuring that we continue to challenge our practices whilst maintaining an income stream that allows us to look after this wonderful estate. We run annual events throughout the open season that provide a much-needed income that supports our aims. 


Plant Fair happens the last Sunday in April every year.

Legacy

Our legacy is to provide a sustainable, robust and forward-thinking estate that matches individual passions to political, economic and social needs. At the heart of the legacy is a friendly, family run estate that holds community and family values at its heart ensuring custodianship of our beautiful environment is long lasting and to the benefit of future generations.

Conservation

Conservation is very important to us here at Spetchley. At the core of this is to create and actively manage a diversity of habitat types in order to encourage and support a large and varied number of flora and fauna species. Our conservation work is ongoing and hugely satisfying, whether it be a new species seen on the estate for the first time or a large flock of finches lifting off from one of the wild bird seed strips, its good to feel our work is making a difference.

Woodlands

The existing woodlands are constantly evolving, glades are opened up and rides kept open with replanting carried out where necessary to create diversity. We have three species of deer living wild in our woods, roe, fallow and the diminutive muntjac. As well as our mature woodlands we have also planted some new woods with more planned for the near future.

Hedgerows

The hedgerows are our wildlife corridors and are managed accordingly. Many hedgerows have been replanted to ensure continuity and lots have grass margins running alongside them, which is a favoured habitat for voles, among many other species, which in turn are a prime food source for our resident barn owls. As well as the barn owls, there are also tawny and little owls resident and occasionally a visiting short eared owl. Other raptors that may be seen on the estate include kestrel, sparrowhawk, common buzzard, red kite and peregrine falcon.

Grassland

Much of our grassland is unimproved which favours rodent species, the main prey for the kestrels and owls alike. You may also see some dead and decaying trees in our woods, hedges and parkland, these are insect rich and are used by treecreepers, nuthatches, greater spotted and green woodpeckers.

Wild Birds

Every year some of our arable ground is taken out of commercial production to aid our conservation work. We plant over thirty acres with a wild bird seed mix to provide a food source through the Autumn, winter and early spring for many species of birds including finches, buntings, sparrows and grey partridge, some of which are red listed species.

Supplementary Feed

We also provide over six tonnes of supplementary feed a year, which includes cereals, sunflower seeds and small seeds such as millet and rapeseed, from December through to April. This helps the birds through the lean winter months and hopefully they will be in prime condition come the nesting season. We also have some fields planted with a pollen/ nectar mix which is greatly favoured by many species of bees, butterflies as well as numerous other insects.

Our History


Rowland Berkeley

Spetchley was bought by Rowland Berkeley, a wool merchant and banker, in 1605. Prior to this it had been owned by the Sheldon and Lyttleton families. The house, landscape and Gardens are now very much a legacy of one family's commitment to ensuring nature, beauty and longevity thrive at Spetchley.

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Our Legacy

Successive members of the Berkeley family lovingly created the landscape and the Gardens.


The house and Gardens are now very much a legacy of one family's commitment to ensuring nature, beauty and longevity thrive at Spetchley.

Find out more ➝
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