Boothby farm was purchased by Nattergal in 2021 with a vision to allow dynamic natural processes to recolonise this hard worked arable landscape. Digg & Co., were initially invited to the project to take a look round and walk the land with the Nattergal team and it was immediately apparent that the wonderful vales, river and rolling limestone hills were about to be the scene of something very special. An ecological revival of considerable scale and scientific interest.

Working closely with the team at Nattergal, Digg & Co. Studio were asked to come up with a futuristic landscape vision of the project as well as qualifying the biodiversity uplift using the statutory DEFRA metric for biodiversity net gain.

When considering a future look at land, it is always intriguing to look back at how the land was used through the ages and specifically for a studio obsessed with plants and the history of livestock in Britain. Of course this yielded some amazing stories and facts. Not only was the main footpath running through the site one which was used by the great cattle droves of the 1700s, but the plant assemblages and species richness of these limestone slopes was impressive and deeply recorded. An excellent reference point to where natural plants communities, specifically open limestone grasslands, were in tact and prevalent across the landscape.

One of our main aims in this work is always to consider the density of species richness which can be brought back to a landscape and the Nattergal team share a similar passion for this, with their team already oversowing several of the outlying fields with locally sourced wildflower hay to kick start this process. These fields will become the nursery sites for wider landscape scale recolonisation as free roaming herbivores move through these areas and carry the seeds to pastures new on their coats and in their dung.

The final piece of artwork not only articulates the landscape changes from the currently monotonous arable landscape to dynamic habitat mosaics, but also illustrates some of the scenes of recovery a visitor could encounter. From fighting stallions to cuckoos, hunting foxes to the bright flash of kingfishers along the restored river Glenn.

We continue to work with Nattergal as the project moves from planning to delivery.