How you can help

There are a few simple things you can do to encourage dormice and other wildlife to thrive. Allowing gardens to get a bit messy is a great help.

It’s also beneficial to let bramble grow, leave ivy on trees and pile up fallen branches and logs, where bugs can live and wildlife can hibernate.

Monitoring bats

Cotehele also welcomes different bats, which tend to roost in the estate’s hollowed trees, the eaves of the holiday cottages and the limekilns on Cotehele Quay. Several colonies of lesser horseshoe bats also roost in four chimneys in the house.

George Holmes, Cotehele’s lead ranger says, ‘The bats identified in our recent wildlife survey at the quay include tiny pipistrelles – which are less than the size of a thumb – noctule, natterer’s and daubenton’s, which are sometimes called “water bats” because they catch insects from the water’s surface.’

Tracking butterflies

Different species of butterflies visit Cotehele during the spring and summer. Part of the team’s job is to monitor and record the butterflies. This data is then fed into the Butterfly Conservation’s national monitoring scheme.

Butterflies are said to be a good indicator of the health of an environment. If butterflies aren’t doing well, it often means that other species are likely struggling too.

Managing woodlands for butterflies

There are growing concerns that the trend for warmer, wetter winters will seriously affect many butterfly species. The rangers are working to improve butterfly habitats in Cotehele’s woodlands.

This involves removing overhanging vegetation, conducting woodland edge management and improving the woodland understory. This will allow more sunlight in while also encouraging brambles, honeysuckle and coppices regrowth – all things that butterflies love. The work is beneficial for other creatures too.

Cotehele’s woodlands and wildlife

Cotehele is home to 111 hectares of mixed woodland, including oak, ash, sweet chestnut, sycamore and beech as well as hazel and holly. The team actively manage the woodland to encourage biodiversity and keep the trees healthy. This sometimes means cutting trees down.

History of the woodlands

Cotehele’s woodlands grow on steep sloped valley sides along the River Tamar and are extremely varied in character. They also range in age.

There are the ancient woodlands of Cotehele Wood and Bohetherick, and then areas such as Danescombe Valley and Comfort Wood, which were old mining and market gardens that were only converted to woodland in the last century.

Cutting down trees

The team at Cotehele work hard to ensure the woodlands remain healthy and thriving, which sometimes means cutting down trees. There are different reasons why we need to cut down trees, including:

• Thinning older, established trees to give saplings the light they need to grow.
• Creating temporary glades within the woodlands. Glades let light in and create important habitats for butterflies and wildflowers to thrive.
• Allowing specimen trees to flourish. The team thins the vegetation around veteran trees, as they need light and room around them to age and set seed. Plus, these older trees often have nooks and holes that are great for wildlife, while lichens establish on their bark providing a home for invertebrates.
• Coppicing. This is a traditional practice, which not only improves the health of hazel trees, but creates a superior habitat for dormice and birds and also provides wood for communities.
• Removing invasive species like rhododendron, laurel, Japanese knotweed and Himalayan balsam.
• Removing diseased trees.

Ash dieback

Ash dieback is a fungal disease that attacks ash trees. It was first identified in the Tamas Valley in the late 2010s, but has likely been present for longer. It’s causing a significant impact on the Cotehele estate, where ash is one of the most prominent tree species.

Following a 2019 survey, we know that it’s present in almost every woodland area on the estate. The disease causes branches to become unstable and dangerous. So, for safety, we're removing any affected trees near visitor routes (paths, roads and car parks etc).

What happens to the cut wood

The team at Cotehele often leave wood where it falls. This is because decaying wood provides a wonderful habitat for deadwood invertebrates, which then provide a welcome food source for other species. Leaving dead wood is an important part of the woodland management plan.

Cut wood at Cotehele is also used as fuel and for building and signs. In fact, the benches around the estate are usually made from Cotehele wood and we also sell logs to the local community.

Wildlife in the woodlands

The woodland habitats are important to the survival of many of Cotehele’s resident wildlife. For example, the ground of the woodland is home to invertebrate populations, notably the scorpion fly, which has not previously been found in Cornwall.

The ancient woodlands are also important for birds. They contain diverse breeding and wintering communities, including sparrowhawks, barn owls, lesser spotted woodpeckers and green warblers.

Deer management on the Cotehele estate

Deer enjoy eating – or ‘browsing’ the leaves, shoots and even the bark of woody plants and also many different wildflowers. They can have a devasting effect on the woodland when the population outgrows the food supply. Today, wild deer have become the single biggest threat to woodland in the UK.

Some of the shrub layer of the woodland on the Cotehele estate has been eaten by dear. This natural layer normally provides nesting habitat, shelter, nectar, berries and nuts for a whole range of birds, mammals and insects. With the shrub layer reduced, all life suffers, and if wood can’t produce young trees, it will eventually die.

Two main problems are that deer no longer have natural predators in the UK, and that mild winters in the south have resulted in very high birth rate. Responsible deer management is a statutory obligation for owners of Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) woodland, such as Cotehele.

Maintaining a healthy herd

At Cotehele, the damage to the woodland has become unsustainable meaning a reduction cull of deer is sometimes necessary, as well as protective deer fencing.

We are working with local deer management experts to help us safely manage the deer population and to continue to monitor the situation to ensure a healthy deer population is maintained.