Flatford Wildlife Garden

Flatford Wildlife Garden is open seasonally for visitors from 1 April -31 October, closed outside of these months except for some specific winter event dates. Please see opening times and full facility details below. From 1 April 2022, contractors will be carrying out some engineering works in the non-public part of the garden. There may be some minor disruption during your visit caused by the contractor taking delivery of materials. This may mean you're in the garden when a delivery lorry drives through. Please follow any instructions given by either the contractor or our team on-site, to ensure your safety. Thank you for your understanding.

Address: RSPB Flatford Wildlife Garden, Flatford Rd, East Bergholt, Colchester CO7 6UL

Grid ref: TM076335

What3Words: lively.voted.screening

A family-friendly wildlife garden designed to inspire you with ideas to take home to your own gardens and community green spaces. Located in the idyllic village of Flatford, where John Constable used to paint, this charming site features carved wooden garden creatures, a living willow tunnel and is buzzing with nature. With seasonal events and knowledgeable volunteers to offer advice on wildlife-friendly gardening, there's plenty here to enthuse visitors of all ages to create homes for nature.

Plan your visit

Garden and outdoor welcome point opening times

Spring/summer: open daily, 1 April-31 October, 10.30am-4.30pm.
Autumn/winter: closed, 1 November-31 March, except for the below event dates.

Winter event opening times

Green Christmas Weekends with Robin Robin: 27 and 28 November and 4 and 5 December, 10.30am-3.30pm.
Big Garden Birdwatch: 29 and 30 January, 10.30am-3.30pm.
Snowdrop Weekends: 19, 20, 26 and 27 February, 10.30am-3.30pm.
February Half-term: 12-27 February, 10.30am-3.30pm.

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
Pushchair friendly
Picnic area
Guided walks
Nature trails
Educational facilities

Accessibility

Download full accessibility statement (PDF)

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

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RSPB reserves on Google Earth

Please keep your dog on a lead and under close, effective control at all times, due to the planting and sensitive wildlife here.

Disturbing wildlife does more than simply causing it to move away; it uses up their energy, decreasing their chance of survival regardless of season. Thank you for protecting the special wildlife here by keeping your dog on a lead.

Groups are usually welcome to visit the garden during normal opening hours. However, changes to laws in England and Scotland mean that the maximum group size able to visit our reserves together is currently 6, unless you are from the same household or bubble.

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.

Contact Flatford Wildlife Garden

RSPB Flatford Wildlife Garden, Flatford Rd, East Bergholt, Colchester CO7 6UL
stourestuary@rspb.org.uk
01206 391153
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What will you see?

Our star species

Goldfinch

Watch out for brightly-coloured goldfinches using the bird feeders, or perching on spiky brown teasel heads in autumn and winter.

Great spotted woodpecker

Early spring is the best time to hear great spotted woodpeckers, but in early summer you could hear the loud calls of chicks.

Long-tailed tit

In spring they build a nest from moss, lichen and feathers which is stretchy to accommodate a growing family!

Song thrush

You can hear song thrushes singing from late winter onwards.

Spotted flycatcher

Over the last few years we have had regular appearances of spotted flycatchers.

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.

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

Flatford Wildlife Garden is a haven for wildlife and humans alike. It’s split into two main habitat types: mini meadow areas, where you can hunt for insects, and garden zones, where you can find ideas for making your own outdoor space more wildlife friendly.

The garden provides food and shelter for wildlife whatever the season. The log piles are perfect for woodlice and stag beetles, our small wildlife pond is visited by dragonflies and frogs, and our borders are full of bee and butterfly-friendly flowers. The garden’s trees and shrubs provide berries and nuts for hungry garden wildlife to snack on. In spring, the orchard fills with the scent of apple blossom and the buzzing of bees collecting nectar.

The mini-meadow habitat is a wild and free space, full of wildflowers like cowslips, wild carrot, and yellow rattle in spring and summer. This small-but-mighty patch attracts a dazzling array of insects, making it the perfect place for a bug hunt. Look out for the information slates dotted around the meadow, they'll tell you everything you need to know about the wildlife that lives here.

Over in the barn, there’s even more to discover about the animals and insects that call Flatford Wildlife Garden home. The touch table lets you get up close with fascinating items like snake skins and badger skulls.

Conservation

We carefully manage the garden to nurture and protect the wildlife that lives here. No matter the season, the planting and design of the garden give food and shelter to creatures of all kinds. Our wildflowers provide precious nectar for butterflies and their larvae, log piles are left to rot for stag beetles and woodlice and the lawn is allowed to grow out into a mini jungle which insects love. We also leave the seedheads on plants to provide wildlife with much-needed food in winter.

Site information

Set in the picturesque and historic hamlet of Flatford, the garden welcomes you in to learn more about wildlife. Flatford is part of Constable country – the area of Sussex whose scenery features in the paintings of John Constable.

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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.

For more information on events and to book tickets, please visit events.rspb.org.uk/flatfordwildlifegarden

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.

Flatford Wildlife Garden