Guiding Reforestation with Archaeology: Wallington Estate
- Area size: 54 km2
- Project partner: National Trust
- Launch date: 11 October 2023
Large-scale woodland creation is beginning to reshape the countryside in the landscapes surrounding Wallington Estate – the largest National Trust estate in England. As part of the Great Northumberland Forest project, the Trust will grow new forests across thousands of hectares of land in the coming decades. But before they could decide where to plant, they needed to understand what lay buried beneath their feet.
Their existing records listed 1,347 archaeological features, but most were missing the precise location data needed to make safe decisions, and traditional surveys would have taken far too long.
1,040 Pastronauts joined forces with the National Trust to form the largest archaeological survey team Wallington has ever had, and map the archaeological features hidden across the estate and its surrounding landscape. Using LiDAR and satellite imagery, they identified traces of past settlements, field systems and historic land use that are invisible from the ground, providing a detailed archaeological map that’s crucial for allowing new woodland to be planted in ways that protect the landscape’s deep history.
“I loved the opportunity to learn. It’s something I love but I have no qualifications in and so it can be daunting to engage with archaeology but this was done in a very inclusive way.” – Deirdre, 35–44
The Landscape
The landscape surrounding Wallington Estate stretches across farmland, woodland, river valleys and open moorland in the heart of Northumberland. At first glance it appears timeless and rural, but it’s the product of thousands of years of human activity.
Ancient field systems, settlement remains and historic boundaries are scattered across the hills and valleys – many preserved as subtle earthworks or buried traces. These archaeological features tell the story of how people shaped and managed this land, long before the estate itself existed.
Today, the landscape is entering another period of change, as woodland expands across the region. Understanding where archaeological remains sit within this landscape ensures that new forests can grow while protecting the fragile record of the communities who lived here before.
“We’re thrilled with the results of the project, and looking forward to next steps with the enriched datasets. We’ve also found the new ways of volunteering quite interesting, and very different from how we normally engage. We’ll be thinking about what that means for us in future.” – Tom Dommett, Head of Historic Environment, National Trust
Project Map
Explore 54 km² of Wallington Estate in Northumberland. Each polygon represents an archaeological feature identified by our Pastronauts, with 2,626 discoveries now shaping the National Trust’s reforestation plans.
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