Conservation

The Harewood Estate is responsible for managing approximately 4000 acres in Yorkshire, upon which a multitude of activities take place.

Wildlife

We aim to manage the Estate with benefits to wildlife in mind. The background activity of constantly looking after our habitat is of vital importance to sustain wildlife populations across the Estate. Over recent years we have planted many miles of hedgerow, and this has seen a wonderful explosion in wildlife and wildlife corridors across the farmland where they have become well established.

We also plant areas as food and cover crops for game and other wildlife. We have a rolling programme of wetland restoration. In particular, two main ponds within the park which had become silted up have now been opened once more, and three areas of marsh scrub land have been created at Stockton Farm.

We always try and involve ourselves in Special Projects and the two most successful to date have been the Red Kite project, in conjuction with English Nature, Yorkshire Water and the RSPB, and our very own Barn Owl project, which has led to barn owls coming back to the Estate after many years of absence.

Historic buildings & Parkland

Harewood has a range of historic buildings, not least of which is Harewood House itself, a Grade I listed Georgian building. 

We have a further Grade I listed building and ancient monument on the Estate, Harewood Castle. Permissive access has recently been granted after a joint restoration project between Harewood Estate and English Heritage. This work has secured the structure of the ruin for future generations.

A very important feature in the landscape is an ancient glacial erratic which has also been declared an ancient monument. It sits in the South Park and can be seen from The Terrace of Harewood House. Along with the very important buildings listed above, there are numerous other listed buildings, mostly Grade II, that form part of our development programme.

A programme of management and maintenance is in place for all these structures and an enormous amount of time and effort is taken to ensure it is carried out in the best possible way.