The Trust’s involvement at Panshanger Park has been instrumental in achieving many brilliant things for people and wildlife. Over the last decade, its owners Tarmac have funded a People and Wildlife Officer, hosted by the Trust, and in just the last couple of years they have played an instrumental part in the planting of a new woodland, creation of a new Dragonfly Hotspot and surpassing the milestone of having more than 200 volunteers engaged in looking after this important and historic landscape.

The Trust continues to play an important role providing expert ecological advice and other guidance to the park team. Tarmac’s site managers, Maydencroft have expanded their day-to-day running of the park with the addition of a new Community Ranger. This role is already growing the fantastic volunteer programmes established by the Trust to deliver practical habitat management, monitoring engagement activities across the site.

As the shape of our relationship with Panshanger Park changes, it’s a great time to take stock and look back at what we have achieved over the past decade, 2014-2024, and the time running up to that period, with the support of our members, volunteers and project partners – and, of course, every one of the 10,700+ people who have attended our events there!

But first, let’s tell you how it all began…

From 2004 to 2014, the late Dr John Foster, Trustee, and Tim Hill, Conservation Manager worked alongside representatives from Tarmac and Hertfordshire County Council to provide advice on the restoration and management of Panshanger Park through a dedicated management committee, including the establishment and development of the nature reserve. During this time through quarry restoration, a replica chalk stream through the north side of the Ponderosa (an area of the park) was created. Over a five-year period, from 2005 to 2010, nine dragonfly ponds at the eastern end of the Park were developed, attracting species such as Broad-bodied Chasers and Black-tailed Skimmers. And in 2006, the conversion of a 19^th century icehouse to create a bat ‘hibernaculum’ (a place where bats can hibernate without disturbance) took place. Since then, this secure place where bats hibernate has been used by Brown Long-eared, Daubenton’s and Natterer’s bats every winter.

Panshanger Park highlights 2014 -2024

2014 – Panshanger Park opened to the public on 1 April 2014 and through a partnership between The Trust and Tarmac, the first People and Wildlife Officer, Jennifer Gilbert was appointed to raise awareness of the newly publicly-accessible Park and manage the phased opening.

2014 – Designed by the Trust, a new screened viewpoint was created, providing undisturbing views of the birds of Osprey Lake. A bird identification panel was provided to help visitors name all the species that they might see.

2014 – First volunteers recruited to help with habitat management

2014-2018 – 3,512 children attended activities at Panshanger Park Forest School, a partnership between Tarmac and the Trust, led by The Trust’s Forest School Officer, Becky Shenton

2015 – Panshanger Park Great Oak waymarked trail opened 

2015 – Creation of the Osprey viewing platform at Panshanger Park Did you know that since 2000 Panshanger Park has been the most reliable place to see Ospreys in the county, during the first week of September?

2015 – Stripe-winged Grasshopper found in Lodge Meadow, Panshanger Park by our now Nature Reserves Manager, Ian Carle, who is also the Hertfordshire County Recorder for Grasshoppers, Crickets, Cockroaches and Earwigs. Panshanger Park being one of only three locations in Hertfordshire where this grasshopper is found.

2016 – Creation and opening of the first interpreted Dragonfly Trail, incorporating the ponds created between 2005-2010

2016 – The First Biodiversity Conference took place, and has since become an annual event (from 2024, renamed as the ‘Nature of Panshanger’)

2016-2019 – the Trust’s annual Festival of Wildlife event held at Panshanger Park with over 6,800 attendees taking part over the four years

2017 – Panshanger Park featured on BBC TV’s Inside Out with Martin Ketcher, the Trust’s then Water Vole Officer interviewed by Mike Dilger

2017 – The Park partnership of Tarmac and HMWT wins the Mineral Products Association prestigious Cooper-Heyman Award

2018 – Panshanger Park recognised as the most important site in Hertfordshire for Little Grebe with 25-30 throughout the year (British Trust for Ornithology’s Wetland Bird Survey (WeBS) monthly voluntary counts by Tim Hill, the Trust’s Conservation Manager)

2019 – Tarmac put in place a new park management contract  with Maydencroft which enables  Longhorn cattle to start grazing, restoring and maintaining the grassland habitats 

2019 – Panshanger Park featured on BBC TV’s Countryfile and was seen by four million viewers. The programme featured interviews on restoration with Michael Charlton, Tarmac’s Mineral Estates Manager, veteran trees with Tim Hill, the Trust’s Conservation Manager, and conservation grazing with Tom Williams, Managing Director of Maydencroft.

2019 – The first Heritage Open Day was held and has been an annual event on the calendar since

2021 – The first chalk river restoration scheme was completed, in partnership with Rob Mungovan from the Wild Trout Trust 

2022 – Over 200 volunteers were registered, helping to care for, monitor and interpret the Park

2022/2023 – Queen’s Wood was created, in commemoration of the late Queen Elizabeth II, with 17,000 trees planted by over 500 volunteers co-ordinated by Jo Whitaker, the Trust’s People and Wildlife Officer and the park ranger team. 

2022 – The Trust, on behalf of the Partnership, applied to the British Dragonfly Society for Panshanger Park to become a Dragonfly Hotspot, which was successful

June 2022 – A Wildlife Watch group, providing environmental education for 7-12-year olds, was launched at Panshanger Park, led by Jo Whitaker, People and Wildlife Officer, with support from a team of volunteer leaders. To date 116 young people have attended these group events.

2023 – Panshanger Park launched as a Dragonfly Hotspot - the first in Hertfordshire and only the 10^th in England. This saw the opening of a waymarked Dragonfly Trail with dedicated interpretation, where 18 species of dragonflies and damselflies are regularly recorded.

2023 – Panshanger Park was recognised to be internationally significant for the diversity of its saproxylic beetles (species which depend on dead and rotting wood for at least part of their life cycle), following survey and research commissioned as part of the preparation of the Park Management Plan.

2024 – Countryside Stewardship funding was secured which will enable extensive grazing of the Park by Longhorn cattle and ‘Iron Age’ pigs, which will contribute to restoring and maintaining the wetland, grassland and woodlands.

With landscaping at Panshanger Park having started in 1799, with advice from Humphry Repton, renowned as the last great landscape designer of the eighteenth century, this vast park has seen many different chapters evolve over centuries and decades. We, at the Trust, are very proud to have played a part in its recent history and hope that future generations of both people and wildlife will continue to thrive here as a result. It remains a wonderful place and accessible place to visit, and a fabulous site for a myriad of wildlife species.

For more information on planning a visit, click here.