The Rothbury Estate

Thanks to more than 25,000 supporters, Northumberland Wildlife Trust and The Wildlife Trusts have completed the purchase of The Rothbury Estate. 

People from across the UK and more than 50 countries came together to make this once-in-a-generation opportunity a reality. 

We are hugely grateful to everybody who supported this appeal. Together, you have secured this extraordinary Northumberland landscape for nature, people and generations to come. 

Now an exciting new chapter, and the real work begins 

Securing The Rothbury Estate was an extraordinary achievement. But it was always just the start.  

Now we can get to work restoring nature across 9,500 acres of moorland, woodland, rivers, grasslands and farmland, working alongside the people who live and work here.

Welcome to The Rothbury Estate

Rolling moorlands, woodlands and wide-open starry skies. The Rothbury Estate in Northumberland is a place of rare beauty, steeped in human history. 

This heart-shaped haven, stretching over 3,800 hectares, holds spectacular views, hidden valleys and rivers alive with life. 

The Simonside Hills are famed for their rugged beauty and offer spectacular views across the Coquet Valley and all the way to the North Sea. The mighty Whin Sill - a sheet of dolerite rock formed 295 million years ago, when molten rock rose up from deep within the Earth - together with the exposed upland moors, gives this landscape its distinctive character.  

The estate had been in the ownership of the Percy family – the Dukes of Northumberland – for almost eight centuries and now it is in the care of The Wildlife Trusts for the benefit of people and wildlife. 

Explore all this wild and wonderful place has to offer. 

Find out more about The Rothbury Estate

A vision for the future of The Rothbury Estate

Our vision is of a 40-mile nature corridor across Northern England, stretching from Druridge Bay in the east to the Scottish-English Border at Kielderhead and Whitelee National Nature Reserves, with The Rothbury Estate at its heart.   

With the communities who live and work on and around the estate, we are developing a vision for the future management of this remarkable landscape. With nature-friendly, regenerative farming, we will place nature’s recovery at the heart of the estate, while respecting the rural traditions of this region. 

We will show how nature, community and the rural economy can work together, with people and wildlife thriving side-by-side. We will enhance public access so that more people, locally and from across the UK, can explore and learn about the history of the area and the wonderful wildlife found here.