BIG changes are coming to a Herefordshire beauty spot with work about to start on a major restoration project.

The Weir Garden, one of the National Trust Herefordshire places, is an eighteenth-century riverside and walled garden, occupying four hectares along the banks of the river Wye.

This area, however, is only a small part of the 100 hectares of land that make up the Weir estate, which features parkland and farmland situated on either side of the A438 Hereford to Hay on Wye road.

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Until 2022, most of the farm and parkland was let to a tenant farmer but has since come back into the care of the National Trust, which has started work to enhance understanding of the landscape and identify priorities for land use, conservation, and potential visitor experiences. This work has led to the Weir Priority Habitat restoration project with the goal of establishing substantial wildlife habitats, sequestering carbon, and improving soil and water quality.

Thanks to generous funding from the National Highways environment and wellbeing fund, the National Trust is about to begin work on this project, which will create and restore over 65 hectares of wildlife habitat.

The project involves restoring woodland and wood pasture, the creation of new orchards and the ecological enhancements of grasslands. Meadows will be planted and sown with species such as common knapweed, ox-eye daisy, bird’s-foot trefoil and meadow buttercup.

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Some areas will be planted with parkland trees to create wood pasture and others will be planted with a blend of native broadleaved trees to restore woodland.

Traditional orchards will be restored, with local varieties of apple, pear, damson, plum and cherry trees. Hedgerows will be established with a blend of traditional and native species, providing a much-needed habitat for insect pollinators.

Ongoing restoration and management of these priority habitats will include a mixture of livestock grazing with a complimentary hay-cutting regime to achieve the best outcomes for biodiversity, thus ensuring a climate-resilient landscape.

National Highways engineering team manager Sam Twist said: “We achieve more by working with partners such as the National Trust and were happy to support the project at the Weir Garden which will have such a significant impact on local woodland and grasslands creating a welcoming habitat for wildlife.”