Biodiversity Net Gain at Abbotts Hall nature reserve

Abbotts Hall is a 730 acre former arable farm in Great Wigborough and has been Essex Wildlife Trust's home since 2000.

Essex Wildlife Trust is returning this former farmland to a nature haven, working to create a wilder, naturalised landscape where formulaic field structures are less defined, woodland managed, coastal scrub will be encouraged onto ecologically degraded grazing land, historic ponds reinstated and the saltmarsh enhanced. Protected species such as turtle dove, nightingale, owl, badger and hare will flourish. We will introduce conservation grazers, where livestock will help shape the meadows, scrubland and wood pasture, creating new habitats for wildlife.

From 2026, the farm buildings and hall will undergo a refurbishment programme to open to the public as visitor and community spaces, for wellness, education and creativity. 

Abbotts Hall is located within Colchester City Council planning authority, neighbouring local planning authorities include Tendring, Braintree and Maldon. We span two National Character Areas (NCA): Great Thames Estuary (81) and Northern Thames Basin (111).