Several activities take place on the Estate all aimed at contributing to both the local environment and community.
Farming
For several decades, the Naunton Hall Farms Partnership has proudly been delivering combinable crops and root vegetables in conjunction with the Contract Farming business, Westrope Farming, using traditional agricultural rotation with the benefits of light land and irrigation.
The Partnership remains committed to the business of food production but is increasingly looking to deliver on the sector’s environmental responsibilities. This has led to a significant diversification by committing arable land to both the Countryside Stewardship Scheme and more recently the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI).
Climate change and the vagaries of our local weather patterns present an ongoing challenge to food production, but one that we meet head on. Global markets likewise continue to fluctuate and affect imports so we work hard to future proof sustainable and marketable produce.
The land adjacent to the River Deben provides approximately 50 hectares of grazing land much of which is managed under the Countryside Stewardship Scheme and grazed by mixed stock during summer months.
Wild Venison
Naunton Hall Farms is committed to the ethical and humane management of the deer population on the Estate to enable woodland and wildlife to thrive.
Redland Produce Ltd. controls the deer on some of the Estate, to protect both the farm and woodland from the negative effects of overpopulation. Discover more and buy sustainably sourced produce here.
Woodland
Approximately 200 acres of the Estate is dedicated to woodland which is managed sustainably with emphasis on native species providing wildlife corridors. The great storm of 1987 destroyed the majority of standing wood and major replanting was necessary.
A number of great oaks survive on the Estate and may have originally been part of a medieval deer park mentioned in the Domesday Book. An oak tree with perhaps more humble origins has been donated for the reconstruction of the Anglo Saxon longship, the origins of which were discovered at Sutton Hoo in the 1930s. See more details of archaeology here.
Shooting
The Estate runs a small family focused pheasant and partridge shoot.
There are a small number of let days available each year. Contact us here to enquire about availability.
Archaeology
For the last twenty years, lead archaeologists have overseen excavations on the Estate with major archaeological discoveries being made at Rendlesham – an East Anglian royal centre of the time of Sutton Hoo.
Some of the findings on the Estate are from the largest and wealthiest settlement of its time known in England. The discoveries made revealed Rendlesham’s royal connections and its international importance as well as the everyday lives of those who lived there 400–800 AD. For further reading, see here.
St. Gregory’s Church, Rendlesham
The Church of St Gregory is in the old village of Rendlesham and is dedicated to St Gregory the Great. It is late medieval and has served the surrounding community for around seven hundred years.
Surrounded by the Naunton Hall Estate, the Bunbury family have been involved in the support of the church for generations, which continues through to present day.