Teaching resources

In Focus: Sustainability and the Environment

Our sites offer fantastic opportunities to delve into history and support your teaching of the environment, climate change and sustainability.

Whether it’s learning about how sustainability and the natural environment have been understood in the past, or how we care for the natural world today, we can help you to deliver environmental education to your class at sites all over the country with our free teaching resources for all key stages.

Use our articles, videos and suggested activities to support your students in their cross-curricular exploration of nature and wildlife at our sites, at school, or in your local area.

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Spotlight on our Sites

Image: the Quarry Garden at Belsay

Discover our outdoor historic spaces using our curriculum-linked outdoor learning resources. Our outdoor learning kits provide historical information, glossaries, timelines and hands-on activities for you to explore before, during and after a visit. 

Get creative with garden geometry, undertake a tree survey, explore a variety of habitats and environments and more as you take your learning outdoors. 

Natural History and Biodiversity: Then

Natural history has interested people for centuries, but they have often studied it and thought about it differently to how we would today. Similarly, although it might seem like we’ve only recently started talking about biodiversity and the importance of outdoor spaces, many people connected to our historic places have reflected on and studied these ideas over the centuries, often in their own gardens.

Click on the images below to explore some well-known and not so well-known stories of gardening, scientific discovery and social reform linked to our historic places. Invite students to consider these stories and weigh up the contributions that these people and places have made to our understanding of the natural world today. You could run a debate or encourage more research to explore these ideas further.

MR VERT AND PLANT VARIETIES AT AUDLEY END

MR VERT AND PLANT VARIETIES AT AUDLEY END

MR VERT AND PLANT VARIETIES AT AUDLEY END
Mr James Vert was the head gardener at Audley End House in Essex from 1880 to 1913. He was only 26 when he took on the job of looking after the estate’s gardens and grounds, but four years later a Gardeners’ Chronicle article described him as a ‘talented young gardener’. Growing plants from across the British Empire and beyond was very fashionable during the Victorian period. James looked after a large variety of plants from all over the world including firs, conifers and sequoia trees from North America and monkey puzzle trees (Aracuria imbricate) from South America. There was a Kentucky Coffee tree (Gymnocladus dioicus) from the American mid-west and an Empress tree (Paulownia imperialis) from south-east Asia too. As well as looking after and introducing plants from across the globe, James Vert also attempted to ‘unite the flowers of old times…with the modern Pelargoniums, Violas, carpet bedding and beds of succulents’. The ‘best of the old and new varieties’ of peaches, plums, nectarines and apricots were grown in the kitchen garden next to Mr Vert’s house. James won many prizes for his fruit, vegetables and flowers and was even one of the judges at the first Chelsea Flower Show in 1913.
CHARLES DARWIN'S LIVING LABORATORY

CHARLES DARWIN'S LIVING LABORATORY

CHARLES DARWIN'S LIVING LABORATORY
Charles Darwin used the gardens of his home at Down House outside London as a living laboratory for more than 40 years between 1842 and his death in 1888. He developed many of his famous theories on natural selection, adaption and variation by experimenting and observing plants and animals here. While living at Down House Darwin published his theory of natural selection in his book, On the Origin of Species (1859). This explained how all living things are connected in a family tree going back millions of years. You can still see Darwin’s weed garden and lawn plot on the main lawn where he observed selection. His wormstone is also on the main lawn. This is where Darwin measured how quickly a stone sank due to the movement of earth by earthworms. He also experimented with the crossbreeding of plants, including hollyhocks and primroses which are grown in the kitchen garden today. Gardeners, volunteers and academics continue to monitor and record the garden and recreate some of Darwin’s experiments. You can read more about Darwin’s experiments at Down House and his scientific theories by searching our website.
AN ELIZABETHAN GARDEN - THE LANGHAM LETTER

AN ELIZABETHAN GARDEN - THE LANGHAM LETTER

AN ELIZABETHAN GARDEN - THE LANGHAM LETTER
Robert Dudley, the Earl of Leicester, was one of Queen Elizabeth I’s favourites. Elizabeth granted him Kenilworth Castle in Warwickshire in 1563 and visited him there for a 19-day stay full of entertainments in 1575. During this visit, an official called Robert Langham sneaked into the garden that the Earl had created for the Queen. It’s his written description of the garden that helped English Heritage recreate the Elizabethan Garden in 2009. Langham describes a variety of ‘herbs and flowers….fruittrees bedecked with apples, pears, and ripe cherries’ in the garden. Langham’s description is also the first to record an aviary in England. He says the outbuilding had two tiers and the top of it was painted to look as though it had been decorated with ‘great diamonds, emeralds, rubies and sapphires’. It was filled with ‘lively Birds’ that Langham described as ‘English, Spanish, Canarian, and I am deceived if I saw not some African.’ Such variety of bird species provided ‘change of tunes, and harmony to the ear’ as well as ‘difference of colours, kinds and properties.’
PLANTING COLLECTING AROUND THE WORLD

PLANTING COLLECTING AROUND THE WORLD

PLANTING COLLECTING AROUND THE WORLD
Many of the trees and shrub species at Belsay Hall in Northumberland have come from all over the world, including South America, North America, China and Japan. They were brought to Britain during the early 19th century through new colonial trade routes. Sir Charles Monck, the owner of Belsay Hall at this time, collected trees and plants on his travels and brought them back to his home to grow in his gardens. He kept a diary recording his garden activities at Belsay between 1815 and 1831. From this, we can understand daily and seasonal changes in the gardens that Sir Charles observed and the range of plants he was collecting and planting. Sir Charles grew some pines ‘from seeds taken out of the cones which I brought with me from Greece’ which may have been stone pines (Pinus pinea). Many of the plants Sir Charles collected were among the first examples grown in England. This included a Douglas Fir which his grandson, Sir Arthur Middleton, noted ‘was planted about 1830, one of the first seedlings brought to England’. In 1852, Sir Charles recorded all the trees and plants at Belsay which included more than 40 species of pine. This record also noted Darwin’s barberry (Berberis darwinii) and a Patagonian cypress (Fitzroya cupressoides). Both species had only arrived in England three years before.
OSBORNE IN QUEEN VICTORIA'S DIARIES

OSBORNE IN QUEEN VICTORIA'S DIARIES

OSBORNE IN QUEEN VICTORIA'S DIARIES
We can find out a lot about what the outdoor spaces at Osborne looked like between the 1840s and 1901 by reading Queen Victoria’s diaries. In these, she describes the gardens and grounds of her home on the Isle of Wight, along with specific plants and wildlife she observed there. There were a range of plant species at Osborne during Queen Victoria’s reign with some being introduced from other countries. After her state visit to France in 1855, the Queen recorded ‘brilliant geraniums and those beautiful gladiolas’ at Osborne in 1856 ‘of which we saw so many in France, & which come from Fontainebleau’. Queen Victoria also wrote about picking primroses in the woods with her children during the 1840s and 1850s, and seeing violets, wall flowers and snowdrops growing on the estate. The lilacs ‘perfuming the air…, make Osborne like a lovely sweet nosegay’ (a small bunch of sweet-scented flowers) Some sights and sounds at Osborne reminded the Queen of her husband, Prince Albert, following his death in 1861. In 1863 she wrote about nightingales on the estate which sang ‘so beautifully, but I could hardly bear to hear them, dearest Albert used to be so fond of them.’
ANIMALS ON DISPLAY - TAXIDERMY

ANIMALS ON DISPLAY - TAXIDERMY

ANIMALS ON DISPLAY - TAXIDERMY
Today we mostly study animals by observing how they live in the wild. In the past, naturalists collected animals and plants and brought them back to Britain from all over the world. Animals were killed and preserved so that naturalists could study their appearance and features. During the 1800s, the Victorians became increasingly interested in natural history and collecting specimens to study. Taxidermy (the process of preparing, stuffing and mounting animals) allowed naturalists in the past to study species they might never have been able to see in the wild. While travel remained difficult and expensive, growing collections of specimens brought back from scientific expeditions allowed naturalists in Britain to examine a range of sometimes dangerous species. We care for a large collection of Victorian taxidermy at Audley End House in Essex. The collection was developed by Richard Neville, the 4th Lord Braybrooke (1820–61) who was interested in natural history. It’s thought to be one of the best historic collections of its kind in Britain.
FANNY WILKINSON AND LONDON'S OUTDOOR SPACES

FANNY WILKINSON AND LONDON'S OUTDOOR SPACES

FANNY WILKINSON AND LONDON'S OUTDOOR SPACES
Fanny Rollo Wilkinson (1855–1951) was one of Britain’s first female professional landscape gardeners. She worked for two of the leading organisations in London which tried to preserve the city’s open spaces and designed public gardens you can still visit today. It’s been calculated that she laid out more than 75 public gardens for just one of these organisations alone. Fanny persuaded the new School of Gardening at the Crystal Palace in Sydenham to admit her as their first female pupil in 1881. In 1884 she was elected an honorary landscape gardener to the Metropolitan Public Gardens Association which had been created to give ‘to the people gardens and to the children playgrounds’. They wanted to create public parks as green ‘lungs’ in poor areas. The largest of these included Myatt’s Fields in Camberwell and Meath Gardens in Bethnal Green, both designed by Fanny Wilkinson. In the 1870s, laws were passed to protect outdoor areas as accessible spaces for rest and recreation, cared for by the local authority. This was made possible by campaigning by reformers including Fanny Wilkinson and the organisations she worked with. Fanny was also actively involved in a movement to professionalise work for women. Her work and teaching encouraged other women to become landscape gardeners. Today, Fanny is commemorated with a Blue Plaque at 239–241 Shaftesbury Avenue in London, where she lived from 1885 until 1896.

Biodiversity and Sustainability: Now

Our historic places are home to a variety of wildlife and offer many opportunities to explore the natural environment, biodiversity and sustainability.

We care for our historic outdoor spaces by balancing the preservation of historical buildings with the needs of important species of plants, mammals and invertebrates. We’ve reintroduced species in some places and carefully monitor the conditions at our sites to ensure that vital habitats can thrive.

Scroll through and click on the images below to learn more about how we encourage biodiversity and sustainability at our historic places today. Invite students to think about they can support biodiversity in their own lives. This could include participating in citizen science projects like the Big Butterfly Count or introducing flowering plants into their gardens at home or at school to support pollinators.

 

MAGNESIUM LIMESTONE GRASSLAND

MAGNESIUM LIMESTONE GRASSLAND

MAGNESIUM LIMESTONE GRASSLAND
Brodsworth Hall as you see it today is a Victorian mansion which was built in Yorkshire by the Thellusson family in the 1860s. As the family’s fortune declined over time, the house gradually fell into disrepair. During the 20th century, the gardens were not looked after in the way that the Victorian owners of the house had done. The lawns weren’t closely mown and this led to rare magnesium limestone grassland being able to thrive. Lots of different wildflowers grow in this kind of grassland, including milkwort, rock rose, cowslip, rest-harrow and orchids native to the UK. Instead of returning these areas to their Victorian appearance, English Heritage preserves the rare grassland habitat. This means that you can see these wildflower species at Brodsworth between late spring and mid-summer.
FARM ANIMALS AT BOSCOBEL HOUSE

FARM ANIMALS AT BOSCOBEL HOUSE

FARM ANIMALS AT BOSCOBEL HOUSE
Boscobel House in Shropshire was part of a farm during the early 1800s. It was originally a mixed farm which means that crops were grown there and sheep, cows and pigs were farmed as well. Later, Boscobel became a dairy farm where cows were raised to make milk, butter and cheese. Today, English Heritage cares for local and rare breed farm animals at Boscobel including Tamworth pigs, Ryeland sheep, Shropshire sheep and Sea Bright chickens. Tamworth pigs are one of the oldest breeds of pig with distinctive red colouring. Ryeland sheep are one of the oldest sheep breeds in England and have a fluffy coat. Queen Elizabeth I is believed to have said that she would only wear clothes made of Ryeland wool after being given a pair of Ryeland wool stockings. The Sea Bright chicken was developed by Sir John Seabright in 1879. They’re known as ‘Silver Laced’ because the feathers around their neck look like a lace necklace. Shropshire sheep are the oldest registered pedigree breed in the UK and were very popular in the 1800s because of their big dense fleece and strong build.
SOFT CAPPING

SOFT CAPPING

SOFT CAPPING
Soft capping is when we place soil and greenery on the tops of walls. This protects old walls from water damage and creates flower-rich habitats for invertebrates and birds. Before we introduce soft capping at a site, we carefully select a mix of flowers that are suited to local conditions and will complement other nearby habitats. One example of a site where we have introduced soft capping already is Hailes Abbey in Gloucestershire.
CONSERVATION GRAZING

CONSERVATION GRAZING

CONSERVATION GRAZING
Grazing animals like sheep can be really helpful in protecting our historic places. The Kent Wildlife Trust’s flock of Herdwick sheep is helping to restore the chalk grassland at Dover Castle in Kent where rare plant species like the early spider orchid, lesser calamint and wild cabbage thrive. By grazing on the grassland, the sheep prevent tree growth across the castle’s large earthworks. They also help protect historic features underground from damage by tree roots and nibble at ivy before it can reach the castle’s stone walls.
REINTRODUCING CHOUGHS

REINTRODUCING CHOUGHS

REINTRODUCING CHOUGHS
We’re working with the Wildwood Trust and the Kent Wildlife Trust to restore earthworks and grasslands at Dover Castle in Kent. These provide important habitats for wildlife including plants and birds. Such work is supporting the reintroduction of a nationally scarce bird called the chough. Choughs are a type of crow with red legs and a red bill. In legend, the species got their red colouring by walking in the blood of the Archbishop Thomas Becket as he lay dying in Canterbury Cathedral in 1170.
'B-LINES' - INSECT PATHWAYS

'B-LINES' - INSECT PATHWAYS

'B-LINES' - INSECT PATHWAYS
Buglife is a charity focused on the conservation of invertebrates. They work to save the rarest small animals – from bees to beetles, worms to woodlice and jumping spiders to jellyfish. At Berwick -upon-Tweed Ramparts and Castle in Northumberland, we’ve been working with Buglife to improve the grasslands there for invertebrates. The site is part of one of Buglife’s ‘B-Lines’ – insect pathways crisscrossing the UK which provide important pollinators like bees with wildflower-rich stepping stones. This helps pollinators move around and continue to pollinate vital wildflowers and other plants. The project will benefit lots of different species, particularly the northern brown argus butterfly (Aricia Artaxerxes). This species of butterfly was identified as being of high importance under the Natural Environment and Rural Communities Act (2006). It will benefit from the species-rich grasslands at being improved at Berwick.
CARING FOR OUR MEADOWS

CARING FOR OUR MEADOWS

CARING FOR OUR MEADOWS
97% of meadows in Britain have been lost since the Second World War. This means that meadows are one of the rarest habitats in the UK today. Many have been lost to widespread modern farming and gardening methods. We use traditional meadow management methods where we can at sites like Down House and Kenwood in London and Osborne on the Isle of Wight. This includes harvesting hay crops at specific times and allowing sheep to graze in the meadows over winter. Animals can help spread seeds through their droppings and animal hoof prints create small holes for new wildflower seeds to grow up from in spring. Recently at Marble Hill in London, Operation Centaur have used shire horses to cut long grass areas and help cultivate wildflower meadows. It’s very important not to harvest the hay too soon as the wildflower seeds will not have ripened enough to survive. Harvesting hay in late August to early September, instead of earlier in the summer, also means important insects that help pollinate wildflowers will have completed their lifecycles.
BATS

BATS

BATS
Many English Heritage sites are home to bats. Bats and their roosts are protected by law which means that they cannot be disturbed and only people with a special license can handle them. Lots of natural bat roost sites like old trees and undisturbed caves have been lost and so they find alternatives. Buildings can give bats stable temperatures and a safe environment where there is less competition from other animals like birds. In the summer, bats need a warm and dry roosting place to give birth and raise their offspring and in the winter they need a cold and humid place to hibernate. We make sure that any conservation or building work at our sites does not interfere with any bats living there. We also ensure that the bats’ habitats are kept separate from the many visitors we welcome to our historic places.
PLANTING AT BARNARD CASTLE

PLANTING AT BARNARD CASTLE

PLANTING AT BARNARD CASTLE
In 2019, English Heritage completed a project at Barnard Castle in County Durham to replace the former garden at the site with an orchard and wildflower meadow which are more in keeping with the castle’s surroundings. English Heritage gardeners and volunteers created a traditional orchard using local fruit varieties. They planted 13 different types of apple including ‘Great Balsam’, a North Yorkshire breed dating to the early 19th century, and the ‘Ashmead’s Kernel’ from the early 1700s. Today, visitors can walk beneath the trees and across mown paths through a wildflower meadow which supports a variety of plants and wildlife.
PLANT RECORDS

PLANT RECORDS

PLANT RECORDS
English Heritage looks after 14 major gardens. The plants in these gardens are living collections and we make sure that they are carefully recorded. We use plant recording software called Iris BG to map the plants in our gardens and note down important information about specific examples, like the trees and shrubs planted by Prince Albert at Osborne on the Isle of Wight or the Royal Oak at Boscobel House in Shropshire. Keeping track of our plants in this way allows us to monitor our current collections and record design plans. We can compare them with previous plantings and make more informed decisions about how we can best represent the original layouts of our historic gardens.

Understanding Nature and the Environment

Scarborough Castle

The environments around our historic places have changed, sometimes dramatically, over time. Changes in fashion and the uses of outdoor spaces have all contributed to how these have been altered. By studying the environment around us we can better understand these changes and the impact of other factors such as climate change.

Use the activities below to help students better understand your local environment and the landscapes around our historic places.

Spotting Plants and Wildlife

Garden

Encourage your students to explore the wonders of natural world around them. You can use our spotter sheets to identify plants and wildlife at our historic places, around your school or within your local area.

How many different plants and animals can they see? Remember to stay quiet and give any wildlife space so that you don’t disturb them.

Animals in the Archives

People have lived alongside animals for centuries and we can still find evidence of them at our historic places today. English Heritage looks after collections dating from prehistory up to the 20th century, including evidence of animals, animals on display, animals in art and animals as symbols.

Inspire your learners’ exploration of the natural world by examining examples of animals in our collections. How would they move? What kind of environment and habitat do they thrive in? What can they tell us about the kinds of species that existed in England and beyond in the past? You might like to split your class into small groups and give each group a different animal to discover before bringing the class together to share their findings.

Click on the images to learn more about some of objects in our collections and the animals they depict.

 

Link Your Learning

ENGLISH – Use one of the animal objects in our collections to develop a piece of creative writing. You could write a story imagining that the animal has escaped to find their ideal habitat. How will they escape? What are they looking for? How will they travel there and what obstacles stand in their way?

MATHS – Choose an outdoor space at one of our sites, at school or in your local area and challenge students to survey it, using a simple scale to create a map.

SCIENCE – Try sampling at school or in your local area and compare and contrast the plants and minibeasts you find in different areas. What might this suggest about the places you’ve been examining and the environments that certain species prefer?

GEOGRAPHY – Develop student’s map and grid referencing skills using the natural environment around one of our sites. Identify natural features and challenge students to locate them on a map, then extend your learning by finding the feature’s grid reference.  

ART AND DESIGN – Take on the role of an artist and create an image of the natural environment at one of our historic places. Students could choose a range of media depending on their preferences and the styles that you are studying in the classroom.

DRAMA –Think carefully about how animals in our collections or others you’ve seen at our historic places behave. Practice movements and gestures and challenge students to observe each other and guess the animals that are being imitated.   

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