Stratford Innovation Campus at Wellesbourne

The campus at Wellesbourne covers 191 ha and is located to the north-west of the village of Wellesbourne. The soil type at Wellesbourne is predominantly a sandy loam (sand over gravel). For more information refer to Whitfield W.A.D The Soils of the National Vegetable Research Station, Wellesbourne, NVRS Annual Report 1973.

Crop research has been undertaken at the Wellesbourne campus for 75 years since the National Vegetable Research Station (NVRS) was established in 1949 in response to post-war pressure for food production.

The Horticultural Services Team have managed parts of the campus for biodiversity for more than 20 years. This included the whole campus being part of the Countryside Stewardship Scheme form 2002 - 2010 and parts of the campus being part of the Entry Level Stewardship Scheme from 2008-2013.

The campus became a partner in the Arden Farm Wildlife Network in 2019. The Arden Farm Wildlife Network was established in April 2018 with funding for 3 years from Natural England’s Facilitation Fund. The project brought together like-minded farmers to share best practice on how to improve their farm for wildlife whilst maintaining a productive farm. They started with 18 members and grew in the first year to 25 farms, covering over 9,000 hectares. They work in partnership with Zoe Bell, an independent environmental agricultural adviser. The campus is now a member of two of the sustainable farming groups supported by the Warwickshire Rural Hub and the Warwickshire Wildlife Trust.

Recent/current projects on the campus include the development of wildflower areas and the Arden Farm Wildlife Network Tree Sparrow Project (warwick.ac.uk)

South Warwickshire Area Network for Wildlife (SWAN)

The campus is a founder member of the South Warwickshire Area Network for Wildlife (SWAN) and is temporarily hosting SWAN on this website until SWAN can obtain funding to develop its own web site.

Local Nature Partnership

Warwickshire, Coventry and Solihull Local Nature Partnership is a partnership of local organisations with the purpose of driving positive change for the natural environment.