Project

Farming on the Great Orme

View of the landscape at Parc Farm, Great Orme, North Wales — View of the landscape at Parc Farm, Great Orme | © National Trust Images/Paul Harris

Parc Farm was carved out of the mountain in the 1800s and enclosed by a stone wall. Within the wall, the farm has been improved for modern farming, but around it lies some of the best wildlife habitats in Wales. The National Trust purchased Parc Farm in 2015, and with it the rights to graze sheep over the whole headland. Find out how we are working beyond our boundaries to help improve the habitats of the entire country park.

Conservation grazing on the Great Orme

For thousands of years, shepherds tended flocks of hardy native sheep across the Great Orme. This age-old way of life, combined with the geology and extreme climate, created the wonderful wildlife that makes this place special.

But modern farming has resulted in the loss of two things on which the wildlife depended: the hardy sheep and the shepherd. As a result, coarse grass, thorny gorse and non-native plants threaten to upset the delicate balance of nature.

With our tenant, Dan Jones, we’ve teamed up with the Conwy Council Country Park team, PlantLife and other conservation organisations to bring back traditionally shepherded sheep flocks. Y Parc is the engine room that provides conservation grazing for the whole of the Great Orme.

Dan Jones, the National Trust tenant farmer for Parc Farm, with a flock of sheep, on Great Orme, North Wales — Dan Jones, the National Trust tenant farmer at Parc Farm | © National Trust Images/Paul Harris

Managing the land for public benefit

We need places like the Great Orme. The stresses of modern life make it essential that we can escape to wild places and let mother nature restore body and soul.

Get involved

If you’re a walker, visitor, National Trust supporter, councillor, teacher, community leader or just love the Great Orme, you’re invited to help us deliver our vision for Y Parc. Contact us to find out more: parcfarm@nationaltrust.org.uk

Visitors walking on the Great Orme, North Wales, with a view of the coastline — Visitors walking on the Great Orme | © National Trust Images/Paul Harris

The story of Parc Farm

25 May 2015

Great Orme: saved for the Nation

In 2015 we bought Parc Farm following fears that it might become a golf course. By buying the farm, we also protected the wider headland on the Great Orme.