Environment

Our collective challenge is to educate to protect the environment of the future and to raise awareness of the need to preserve the environment of the past.  In 1607, 5,000 peasants came to Cotesbach to protest against the enclosure of the land, and event which we marked on 7th July 2007 with our own village commemoration and a permanent sculpture.

Inspired with our ancestors’ spirit of determination, we seek to act now before it is too late.  Sustainability is the key.

The Trust is grateful to Cotesbach Estate for making educational resources available, which include:

• 25 acres of ridge and furrow grazing land (probably the site of the famous riot)
• Farmland managed under the Natural England Countryside Stewardship Scheme entering a period of organic conversion from September 2009.
• Approximately 15 acres of woodland cover
• An organic vegetable garden and orchard, producing seasonal vegetables which are sold in the shop on the Estate, Naturally Good Food
• A semi wild flower and herb garden with specimen trees including a 400 year old ash tree

These resources make the Schoolhouse an ideal base for field studies and farm walks.  They also provide the baseline for learning a whole raft of skills; cooking, gardening, waste management, woodland based survival skills and many others, each one equipping us with knowledge and understanding of how to make our lifestyles and communities more sustainable in the future.