400+ acres
Mosaic arable farm

The 400 acres that makes up Lark Rise Farm all began with the purchase of one small field thanks to donations following an article in The Telegraph in 1993 by CRT founder Robin Page. It has grown considerably over the years and has been given a Redlist Revival Award for  'Highest Density of Grey Partridge’. In addition, we have many other Redlist species of conservation concern including song thrush, yellowhammer, linnet and – as the farm's name would suggest – an abundance of skylarks.

Lark Rise is a 400-acre arable farm, near to the villages of Barton and Comberton in Cambridgeshire. Over the years, the farm has been divided into smaller parcels of land, with wildlife-friendly corridors created and managed all around the site to support many species of birds, mammals, insects, spiders, and the vegetation they live in or feed on.

The farm has been in the capable hands of tenant farmer Tim Scott for 30 years, and he has successfully balanced the needs of food production and wildlife, with his firm belief that nature should exist across all the farmland and not only be confined to small areas within it.

His personal drive, along with help from CRT volunteers and wildlife staff to both create and maintain habitat and monitor the species using it, has meant that Lark Rise Farm has continually bucked the national trend for wildlife decline, while at the same time being a busy and fully operational arable farm, growing a variety of crops each year, including wheat, barley, oats and triticale – a hybrid
of wheat and rye.

A wildlife oasis for farmland birds

Across the UK, the number of farmland birds has fallen by more than half between 1970 and 2018, and farmland species have showed the most prominent drop, especially wintering seed-eating species such as corn bunting and yellow hammer. However, the regular wildlife monitoring carried out at Lark Rise shows record numbers of both species, plus many other red-listed species.

Tim leaves a substantial area as overwintered stubble, as well as grain-filled hopper-style feeders that supplement the diet of Tim’s signature bird species, the red-listed grey partridge. The grey partridge has suffered badly due to an inability to adapt to more intensive, modern farming techniques, but at Lark Rise the species has found a sanctuary. The efforts to provide both the right habitat and food has seen numbers climb to the extent the farm has received a Redlist Revival Award for Highest Density of Grey Partridge.

Lark Rise Success Story

In the summer months, the fields are awash with colour. High numbers of butterfly species feed on the wealth of wildflowers and it is hard to believe how close we are to the city of Cambridge and the busy M11 motorway.

Together with volunteers and wildlife monitors, tenant farmer Tim Scott has used a wide variety of sensitive farming methods to transform the fields from an intensively farmed wildlife desert into a productive farm that teems with wildlife.

Keep your eyes open for breeding birds that are considered rare, such as barn owls, farmland flowers including bee orchids, brown hares – they’re everywhere – and signs of water voles in the brook. 

All these species are here as a result of wildlife-friendly farming methods such as smaller field sizes, crop rotation, leaving over-wintering stubble, beetle banks, wildlife strips, waterway maintenance and the planting of over 4.5 miles of new hedgerows, with the aid of numerous volunteers.

Lark Rise Willow