The Country Park

A Green Flag Award-winning Country Park that provides a gateway to the wider countryside, rich in a patchwork of habitats where heritage and wildlife live in harmony.

Designation

Stanton Park is a designated Local Nature Reserve, County Wildlife Site and contains a Scheduled Ancient Monument (Site of Roman Villa).

Area

74 Hectares / 185 Acres

Natural History and History

 For many people the park provides a sense of wilderness, tranquillity and exploration. The long-term plan for the site is to protect and enhance the wildlife while developing the area as a country park and managing the meadows in a traditional way with livestock and hay cutting.  Complemented by the lake and extensive woodland, these wild assets add to the diversity of habitats you can immerse yourself in at Stanton Park.

Stanton’s rich history is reflected in the evidence of a Roman Villa from around 200AD, (although there are no visible remains today), and the lost Swindon to Highworth railway.  The ‘Manor of Stantone’ was recorded in the Doomsday Book of 1086. In 1995 the house became a private hotel, and Swindon Borough Council purchased the 74-hectare grounds with assistance from the Heritage Lottery Fund in 1996.

The park was officially opened in 2000, and has gradually evolved from a medieval estate and a landscaped parkland in the nineteenth century, through to encompassing a Local Nature Reserve in the new millennium. An inspirational “Forgotten Kingdom” fungus interpretation room opened in 2009 and the farm buildings are currently being restored to encompass further visitor facilities.

The park provides an exceptionally wide range of habitats, such as remnants of ancient woodland, hedgerows, wildflower meadows, wetlands, a lake, streams and a series of recently restored ponds. There are over 900 species of fungi found at Stanton Park, which makes it an extremely special site just for this alone.

These habitats are home to a correspondingly large variety of life, including birds of prey, wildfowl, amphibians, invertebrates and large mammals (including roe-deer and badgers). At dusk or early morning, owls, bats and moths may be heard or seen.  The working landscape is designed to please the eye, with grassland punctuated by a mixture of mature, specimen hardwood trees. In 2003 Local Nature Reserve status was acquired for 36 hectares of the park that included the lake, woodland and grassland.

Swindon Borough Council’s Ranger Team manages the park with the help of the Volunteer Rangers and other interested groups.  The Ranger Centre, located in the old farmhouse, is where the team coordinates the practical habitat management, wildlife surveys, volunteer working parties and educational events for many of the Borough-owned sites including Stanton Park.   In addition, lots of work formulating a management plan for the site and sympathetically developing associated visitors facilities won Stanton Park its first Green Flag Award in 2009.

Access

Map showing Location

By car, leave M4 at junction 15, follow the A419 towards Cirencester and exit at the A361 Highworth Junction.  Continue towards Highworth under the A419 and take the left turn towards Stanton Fitzwarren.  Follow the signposts, and the vehicular entrance to the park lies approximately 400 metres on your left.

By bus, the most regular service is the Stagecoach number 7 from Swindon to Highworth.  The closest stop is on Hunts Rise on the South Marston Industrial Estate and the park Ranger Centre is a fifteen-minute walk from there (approximately 1 km).

There are several footpaths from the park to the villages of Stanton Fitzwarren and Blunsdon.  Other paths link the park to the Woodland Trust’s Stratton Community Woodland site.

We do ask, in the interest of safety and respect for the wildlife, that dogs are kept under control especially when near grazing sheep or cattle.

Facilities

• Visitor Information and interpretation room
• Demonstration Farmhouse kitchen garden
• Circular surfaced route suitable for wheelchairs
• Toilet block including disabled facilities
• Baby changing unit
• Cycle racks
• Car parking

Further Information and Contacts

The Ranger Team
Stanton Park
The Avenue

Stanton Fitzwarren
Swindon
SN6 7SF

telephone the Ranger Centre: 01793 829704

or email stantonrangers@swindon.gov.uk

http://www.keepbritaintidy.org/GreenFlag/GreenFlagAwardSites/SouthWest/Default.aspx?parkID=953

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