Flatford Wildlife Garden

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Address
RSPB Flatford Wildlife Garden, Flatford Rd, East Bergholt, Colchester CO7 6UL
Grid ref
TM076335

A family-friendly wildlife garden designed to pass on ideas that visitors can incorporate into their own gardens. Located in the village of Flatford, where John Constable used to paint, you'll find a trail featuring carved wooden garden creatures and a living willow tunnel. There's so much to do.

Plan your visit

Opening times

  • Between 1 November - 1 April the garden is closed except for the dates detailed on the events page.
  • Between 1 April - 1 November we're open seven days a week, 10.30 am to 4.30 pm.

Entrance charges

Free entrance to RSPB members
Yes
Adults
Free
Children
Free
Car park cost

The car parks available for the wildlife garden are not operated by the RSPB.

If you are parking at Flatford, parking charges can be found on the National Trust website, or if you are parking at Dedham and walking to the garden parking charges can be found on the Colchester borough council website.

Facilities

  • Visitor centre
  • Car park
  • Toilets
  • Accessible toilets
  • Baby changing
  • Pushchair friendly
  • No Refreshments
  • Picnic area
  • Viewing point
  • Nature trails
  • Shop off-site
  • Educational facilities
  • Play area

Accessibility

How to get here

By train

From Manningtree station, if driving or cycling, take the A137 north until the village of Brantham, then turn left at the roundabout onto the B1070 and from there follow signs for Flatford, which is about 2 miles away.

By bus

You can use the number 93 bus, Ipswich-Colchester (passing Ipswich and close to Colchester Town), which runs from Monday - Saturday. Get off at the East Bergholt stop, 0.75 mile away from the reserve.

By road

Flatford is off the A12 between Ipswich and Colchester. Turn off the A12 on the B1070 into East Bergholt. There are brown tourist signs to Flatford on the main roads through East Bergholt. Or from the A137, turn onto the B1070 at Cattawade.

Sat nav POI file: If you have a satellite navigation system that can accept POI files, please see our POI page for a download link and instructions.

Other ways to get there

If you're on foot, Flatford is accessible from Manningtree station via the public footpath leading from the lower station car park - follow signs to Flatford, which is 1.75 miles away. It's also accessible via public footpath from Dedham - follow signs from the bridge over the River Stour, 100m from the free car park.

Get directions from Google Maps
RSPB reserves on Google Earth

Group booking information

Groups are welcome to visit the garden during normal opening hours. However, due to the size of the garden and the fact that family activities are run there during school holidays, it would be appreciated if notice was given ahead for large groups, via email to stourestuary@rspb.org.uk.

Schools booking information

Small school groups are welcome to visit the garden during normal opening hours. However, due to the limited size of the garden, we would ask that large groups be split up and visits be staggered. Advance notice of visits via email to stourestuary@rspb.org.uk would be appreciated.

Unfortunately we are not able to accommodate long visits or arrange specific activities, but are always happy to talk to children about the garden and the display items in the barn.

What will the weather be like?

12 degrees, Sunny day

Contact Flatford Wildlife Garden

What will you see?

Our star species

Nature spectacles

Flatford Wildlife Garden is about celebrating the day-to-day joys that garden wildlife brings, whether it be spotting a new generation of ladybird larvae on the willow tunnel, watching a cheeky bank vole tucking into a windfall apple, or catching the glint of azure as a damselfly skims over the water of the pond. The mayflies, newly hatched from the nearby river, also provide an amazing aerial dancing display over our mini-meadow each year – one of nature’s spectacles very much admired by our visitors.

Swallows and martins are to be seen gathering in groups at the end of the summer, soaring and wheeling above the garden, making the most of the abundant insect population to feed up before their long journeys to their winter homes.

Seasonal highlights

The garden really springs into life at this time of year. Bulbs burst into bloom, and later in the season you can enjoy the scent of apple blossom. The birds start to nest, and if one of our nest cam boxes is chosen we can observe the whole process right through to the fledging of young ones on our large screen in the barn.

The wildflowers we've planted attract loads of butterflies and other insects, which in turn are good news for the local birds! You can enjoy watching lots of common garden birds here which benefit from our wildlife-friendly gardening techniques. The dancing of the mayflies, newly hatched from the nearby river, provides an amazing aerial spectacle over our mini-meadow. Then damselflies and dragonflies start to flash over the garden with their jewel colours glinting in the sunshine. 

Autumn brings new splashes of colour, with leaves changing to oranges, yellows and browns. As you walk around, watch out for toadstools poking through the leaf litter or growing on dead wood. In the trees and bushes, you could see redwings gobbling down berries, or goldcrests flitting around for tiny insects.

Watch out for roving family flocks of long-tailed tits. If you stand still and quiet, they can sometimes come really close to you - a magical experience. Listen for their soft calls, which sound a bit like someone blowing a raspberry. Chattering yellow and black siskins feed high up in the trees, or sometimes on the feeders.

About Flatford Wildlife Garden

Habitat

There are two main habitat types at Flatford Wildlife Garden - garden, and mini-meadow.

  • Garden habitat has been planted with wildlife in mind as well as for human enjoyment. Log piles, a small wildlife pond and borders attract bees and butterflies and illustrate wildlife-friendly ideas that can be taken home. Planting includes food and shelter for garden wildlife during each of the seasons. A range of trees and shrubs provide fruit, nuts and berries and a small orchard provides blossom for spring pollinators as well as a harvest later in the season.

  • Mini-meadow habitat makes a haven for bugs from spring onwards. It includes spring flowers such as cowslips, and then wild carrot, yellow rattle and other summer blooms, showing that even a small area of wildflowers can encourage a variety of amazing insects. This is an ideal area for bug hunts! There are seasonally relevant information slates placed around the garden to explain what to look out for and why the garden is being managed in the way that it is. Lots more information is available in the barn, where there is also a touch table displaying a selection of interesting artefacts for visitors to investigate, from snake skins to badger skulls!

Conservation

This is a garden managed with the nurture of wildlife in mind. The design includes planting that will provide food and shelter for garden creatures throughout the seasons. For example, wild flowers which provide food for butterflies or their larvae are given a place in traditional borders, and log piles are left to rot quietly to provide habitat for creatures such as stag beetles. Grass is left a little longer than a traditional lawn or allowed to fully grow in places. Seed heads are left on plants to provide winter wildlife sustenance.

Site information

The garden is situated in the beautiful and historic hamlet of Flatford, where John Constable used to paint. It is designed to teach and inspire people to help wildlife in their own gardens.

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Activities and events

Activities for children and families

Children and families can enjoy a range of activities during school holidays, including mini-beast hunting, nature trails, owl pellet dissection and nature trails amongst others. Please check our events section or call us to check what activities are on at the moment.

The garden includes some features particularly suitable for families. We have a very popular living willow tunnel, a log pile house, a child-sized nest box and a display of natural artefacts on a regularly updated touch table in the barn. Amazing wooden sculptures of giant garden creatures are to be discovered at key points around the winding pathways. As well as the family activities organised during school holidays, there are also nature trails that lead round the garden available at weekends.

Leisure activities

Gardening is a popular leisure activity, and whether you are planning to set up a new garden from scratch, tweaking the one you currently have, or even just want to make the most of your balcony, the garden aims to provide inspiration! Our staff and volunteers are always happy to provide information about gardening for wildlife and we have a range of relevant leaflets available to take away too.

The garden also provides a peaceful retreat if you just want to take a few minutes out of a busy lifestyle to watch and listen to the birds or the rustling of the leaves in the trees. There are places to sit and relax throughout the garden and a picnic area too.

Events

Saturday 18 May
Willow Weaving at RSPB Flatford Wildlife Garden
Suffolk
More events

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