Bottengoms
Ronald Blythe's gift to Essex Wildlife Trust
Ronald ‘Ronnie’ Blythe is regarded as one of the founders of contemporary nature writing. His elegiac portrait of vanishing life in the countryside in his most famous book ‘Akenfield’ made him known and read across the world. Through his lifetime, he wrote over 80 books and is considered an icon amongst many of the leading international naturalists and nature writers today.
Ronnie died in 2023 at the age of 100, leaving his enchanting home, Bottengoms, to Essex Wildlife Trust. This 16th century yeoman farmer’s house, nestled in the landscape of Wormingford in the Stour Valley, was given to Ronnie by his friends, East Anglian artists John and Christine Nash. Ronnie’s wish was for the estate to become a nature reserve and to include a studio to inspire writers, artists, photographers, natural historians and historians for generations to come. The belief that Ronnie shared with John Hall, the Trust’s CEO at the time that the Will was drafted, was that, if it is to succeed, conservation needs the best artists working for its cause, something which is as true now as ever. Since the drafting of the Will, the Trust’s President Jules Pretty has played a crucial role in stewarding the gift.
Bottengoms
Author Ronald Blythe
Ronald Blythe's writing desk at Bottengoms
As befits a gift of such wildlife, heritage and literary value, the Trust has set up an Advisory Group including Ronnie’s friends, the Executors of his Will, Ian Collins & Joachim Jacobs, and literary academics to develop a vision and steward the estate in a way that fulfils Ronnie’s wishes as closely as possible. As part of this, a project manager will work on all the options available. This will include developing sustainable funding models, while the gardener from another East Anglian property that is important to the artistic heritage of the region – Benton End in Suffolk – will develop a management plan for the beautiful gardens.
If you would like to support, we are raising funds for the development of the project, maintenance of Bottengoms and the vision for its future.
We are currently recruiting a Project Manager, so we expect to make announcements on the vision for Bottengoms soon.
In the meantime if you have any queries, please email: Bottengoms@essexwt.org.uk
'Blythe Spirit: The Remarkable Life of Ronald Blythe', written by Ian Collins, is available to purchase from any of our Nature Discovery Centres.
