Saltram is a much-loved place, offering a vital connection to heritage and green space in a growing city. As Plymouth expands, we want to ensure Saltram continues to support health, well-being, and education for generations to come. We’re committed to making Saltram more inclusive and accessible, so that everyone feels welcome and can enjoy all that this special place has to offer. Working with our partners, we’re delivering a range of improvements across the estate to better serve the needs of our local communities.
Saltram is a place that Plymouth people take pride in - it links the city and its communities with history, nature and green space. Over the next decade, we’re working to ensure that Saltram is more welcoming, accessible, and relevant to the people who need it most.
We will open up more free-to-access green space, create new habitats for wildlife, restore historic landscapes and views, and improve visitor facilities. We’re also committed to making it easier for local communities to access and enjoy everything Saltram has to offer - whether for relaxation, learning, or well-being.
Together we are shaping this next chapter in Saltram’s history, ensuring this special place is here for everyone, for ever.
We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as this content may introduce additional cookies. You may want to read the Google YouTube terms of service and privacy policy before accepting.
Watch the video to find out more about Saltram's ambitious Access to Nature and Heritage package - the first stage in our Future Saltram project.
This year work will start to double the amount of free-to-access country park at Saltram. Spanning 32 hectares (79 acres) — equivalent to 45 football pitches — on the eastern side of the 213 hectare (528 acre) estate, this ambitious project aims to create a vibrant, accessible green space for community wellbeing and engagement, as well as providing a boost for nature.
The existing country park at Saltram is already visited an estimated 1 million times each year. This additional green space means improved access to nature and its well documented well-being benefits for Plymouth's growing population.
Thanks to support from our partner, Sport England, the creation of a new accessible 4km multi-use trail, will connect with the existing riverside walk at Saltram and cater for the many ways people use the outdoor space here, from cyclists, walkers and wheelchair users to families with pushchairs and those needing a little more reassurance underfoot. New wildflower meadows and a new community forest will create new habitats for wildlife and a space for visitors to access and connect with nature in the city.
We have now secured planning permission for the new accessible trail, tree planting and wildflower meadow creation and we aim to open this new area of the countryside park in 2025. Please head to the project updates section below for all the latest developments.
In March 2023, we were awarded a grant from The National Lottery Heritage Fund to explore ways to improve access to Saltram, support skills development, and improve health and well-being. Over the past two years, we’ve been listening, testing, and learning, shaping a bold vision for the future.
We have now completed the Development Phase and have submitted our Delivery Phase application to hopefully secure funding for the next stage of this transformative project.
It is our ambition to restore historic landmarks, open up more green spaces, improve accessibility, and share untold stories that explore Saltram’s deep connections to Plymouth. We want to make Saltram a place where more people can enjoy nature, heritage, and culture in ways that are meaningful to them.
Keep an eye on our project updates below to follow our progress.
We used the learnings from the development phase to build a delivery stage funding application, which we submitted to the NationaL Lottery Heritage Fund in February 2025. If successful, the four-year delivery stage is intended to run from September 2025 - 2029 and will focus on helping Saltram adapt to the needs of local communities. Our ambition is for Saltram to be a place which welcomes everyone and where the communities of Plymouth can find meaningful connections to nature and heritage.
We want to better understand what Saltram means to local people and develop plans on how to provide better access to nature and heritage for all. Throughout the duration of the project we'll be working with our local communities, schools and key partners including the Plymouth Octopus Project, Improving Lives and the YMCA, to help shape our plans for Saltram. We'll be posting updates below.
Your feedback matters. Questions and comments from our neighbours and those who love to visit Saltram have really helped shaped our thinking so far. Get in touch to share your views, or ask us anything about the work we do: futuresaltramproject@nationaltrust.org.uk
March 2025
We’ve secured planning permission to expand Saltram’s free-to-access country park on the eastern side of the estate. This means we’re now able to begin the next phase of work to open up 32 hectares of new green space and deliver a 4km accessible multi-use trail.
Inspiring, leading and resourcing the UK’s heritage to create positive and lasting change for people and communities, now and in the future.
Established by Royal Charter in 1996, Sport England's vision is to transform lives and communities through sport and physical activity.
A dedicated team of staff and volunteers work to maintain Saltram’s house and estate, which includes a project to revive the Orange Grove in the garden.
Saltram continues to put nature at the heart of its decisions with the Green Minds Plymouth project. Find out how the project has helped to change and shape Saltram for future generations.
Explore beautiful countryside nestled amongst Plymouth’s urban environment at Saltram. Woodland, estuary and open green spaces provide the backdrop to this city escape.
Feast your eyes on Robert Adam’s neo-classical saloon at Saltram, lose yourself in the stories in the Chinese wallpaper and wonder at the sheer volume of books in the library.
We believe that nature, beauty and history are for everyone. That’s why we’re supporting wildlife, protecting historic sites and more. Find out about our work.
Find out more about the funding the National Trust receives from grants, and the projects it has helped support.
