- Wildlife thrives at the Home of Rolls-Royce at Goodwood
- Flora and fauna flourish across the 42-acre site, nestled in the heart of the West Sussex countryside
- Long-term sustainability partnership with neighbouring Goodwood Estate benefits wildlife, biodiversity and the local community
- Western portion of Rolls-Royce site forms part of proposed Strategic Wildlife Corridor
- Landscaping and environmental enhancements will encompass one-third of the extension of the Home of Rolls-Royce
As well as being the only place in the world where Rolls-Royce motor cars are designed and hand-built, the Home of Rolls-Royce at Goodwood is an important refuge for a huge variety of wildlife.
The site extends to 42 acres and the new site extension extends this by over 10,000 square-metres. It includes more than 400,000 trees, shrubs and plants, both wild and cultivated. It lies within the bounds of the magnificent 12,000-acre Goodwood Estate, the seat of the Dukes of Richmond for more than 300 years and a pioneer of sustainable agriculture and land management. It is also less than a mile from the boundary of the South Downs National Park, which incorporates the former Sussex Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB).
Alongside Rolls-Royce playing a major role in sustaining the unique habitats and species within this beautiful corner of Southern England, it is the largest commercial employer in the area making a significant positive economic contribution locally too.
LIVING IN STYLE
The ducks and other wildfowl living on the lake adjoining the Home of Rolls-Royce at Goodwood have perhaps been attracted to the area by the palatial accommodation available, befitting their splendid surroundings and address.
Apprentices and Interns designed and built a floating platform to provide a safe place for the birds to rest, in line with recommendations from the team at Chichester District Council.
The hexagonal platform, designed by Interns in the Rolls-Royce design team and skilfully hand-built by Apprentices in the Interior Surface Centre, has ramps providing easy access to and from the water. It is topped with a six-sided hut, roofed in traditional style with weatherproof cedar cladding. The platform is moored a safe distance from the bank, carefully anchored to the bottom of the lake to ensure it remains in position, even in high winds and when water levels fluctuate.
ALL GOING SWIMMINGLY
The lake itself was built as part of the original site construction and forms an essential part of the manufacturing plant’s cooling system. As a well-established and important feature within the local habitat, it is also a magnet for wildfowl of all kinds. Among the flock of resident mallard ducks (Anas platyrhynchos), an International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Amber-listed species, 15 have a remarkable backstory. Seven are members of an orphaned family found wandering around one of the on-site car parks, who were reared to adulthood by the team at Brent Lodge Wildlife Hospital in nearby Sidlesham. They, and eight other rescued ducks, were brought to the Home of Rolls-Royce in style in a Rolls-Royce Cullinan and are now among the lake’s permanent residents.
Such is their status that visitors to the Home of Rolls-Royce are cautioned to drive carefully by specially-made ‘Wildfowl Crossing’ warning signs as they enter The Drive that leads to the main building.
REWILDING THE WILDLIFE GARDEN
The Rolls-Royce Wildlife Garden, a small and secluded area next to The Drive, supports a wide variety of plants, insects, birds and animals native to the South of England. It has been carefully updated, in partnership with Chichester District Council and the South Downs National Park Trust, to reflect changes in conservation thinking and practice since the Wildlife Garden was first established over 20 years ago. In particular, the project focused on ‘rewilding’ – returning land to its former uncultivated state, reconnecting fragmented habitats and allowing nature a freer hand. Today, this is seen as an essential strategy for maintaining functional ecosystems and protecting biodiversity.
The Wildlife Garden now includes elements of the winning design from a competition, in which children aged 5-11 were invited to submit ideas for new features that would benefit both wildlife and people. Iris, then aged eight, created Tiggy Town – inspired by The Tale of Mrs Tiggywinkle by Beatrix Potter – tohelp support the UK’s wild hedgehog population, which is in critical decline. Rolls-Royce Apprentices crafted individual hedgehog houses made to Iris’ design, each of which has its own address, as well as beautiful Bespoke nest boxes for birds, bats, dormice and solitary bees. Human visitors are greeted by a new sign and can pause to take in the natural beauty around them by taking a seat on benches crafted using recycled wooden pallets. An all-weather bark pathway means the area can be accessed throughout the year, enabling visitors to enjoy the changing scenery and wildlife according to the season.
WILD AT HEART
The Strategic Wildlife Corridor initiative aims at improving biodiversity and habitats across the Chichester District. This forms part of Chichester District Council’s Local Plan. The initiative seeks to connect the South Downs National Park to Chichester and Pagham Harbours, both of which have numerous conservation designations, including Local Nature Reserve (LNR), Special Protection Area (SPA) and Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI). It is one of the first times that wildlife corridors have been strategically included in planning policies anywhere in the UK.
The proposed route takes in the western part of the Rolls-Royce site, which includes the Wildlife Garden. This will play an important role in protecting biodiversity, particularly honeybees, bumblebees, butterflies and other pollinators, by reconnecting habitat areas previously fragmented by human activity.
JOINT ENTERPRISE
In a further rewilding initiative, colleagues from Rolls-Royce and Chichester District Council have worked together on a hedge-laying project. Over three days, volunteers laid 20 metres of hedge on the site’s southern boundary, adjacent to the Claypit Lane car park, as recommended by the Council’s biodiversity survey. The new hedge, comprising native species and laid using traditional tools and techniques, provides vital food sources for mammals, birds and invertebrates, as well as linking formerly isolated habitats, thereby forming another important element of the Strategic Wildlife Corridor.
A HIVE OF ACTIVITY
Perhaps the site’s best-known wild inhabitants are the 250,000 European honeybees (Apis mellifera) who live in the six grand hives that comprise the Goodwood Apiary. Originally inaugurated in 2017, this large and diligent workforce produces ‘the Rolls-Royce of honey’ each year: just like the marque’s motor cars, it is made in extremely limited quantities at the Home of Rolls-Royce. This unique comestible is reserved exclusively for customers and other visitors to Goodwood. Following the success of the Goodwood Apiary, the marque has extended its beekeeping activities to other regions around the world including UAE, South Africa, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Oman and Germany.
The Apiary bees at Goodwood share their domain with a substantial and diverse contingent of their wild cousins. The most recent Habitat Survey conducted by Chichester District Council notes the presence of large numbers of bumblebees, including the Red-tailed (Bombus lapidarius), White-tailed (Bombus lucorum) and Buff-tailed (Bombus terrestris), among seven species of bees identified on the site. It concludes that “although none of these are rare, the presence of this much variety is indicative of a healthy and varied habitat”.
A SMALL MIRACLE
Alongside these common species, one exceedingly rare creature is in residence at Goodwood. A recent ecological survey found conclusive evidence that water voles, officially designated a ‘rare and highly threatened species’ and legally protected in Britain, are now living in the pond area. As well as being highly endangered, water voles are (perhaps understandably) exceptionally shy, so there have been no sightings to date; however, the survey team have found footprints, burrows, droppings and signs of feeding.
The survey was carried out as part of a project to install three new electric vehicle (EV) chargers and associated parking spaces in the visitors’ car park near the main building. A mitigation strategy, overseen by an ecologist, ensured neither the water voles nor their habitat were disrupted during construction work. The Goodwood water vole population, though likely very small, is nonetheless significant: after a decline of more than 90% in recent decades, only around 130,000 water voles are thought to remain in Great Britain.
SPECIAL VISITORS
While the marque receives clients and other important guests to the Home of Rolls-Royce with all due ceremony, other significant visitors pass through Goodwood with far less fanfare. A number of bird species on the IUCN Red List, including swifts, house sparrows, starlings and lapwings, have been observed at the site; hedgehogs and stag beetles are among the Amber-listed species that have been recorded as part of a long-term monitoring programme in partnership with the Environmental Strategy team at Chichester District Council. A recent bioacoustics survey at the Home of Rolls-Royce identified 36 species of birds on site. This included several which can be considered key indicator species, as their presence reflects the health of the ecosystem. Species of interest that were identified include swift, greenfinch and reed warbler.
JOINED-UP THINKING
Rolls-Royce Motor Cars continues its longstanding environmental partnership with the neighbouring Goodwood Estate, with projects designed to benefit wildlife, biodiversity and the local community.
Specific projects include a joint study with a local ecologist and Chichester District Council into the flight patterns of the rare Barbastelle bats that live on the wider Estate. Rolls-Royce has also supported the Estate’s investment in a specially built mechanised wildflower seed harvester, which gathers seeds from a wide variety of species to be planted on the Estate’s grasslands and around the Rolls-Royce site. Additional initiatives include the opening of a permissive path linking two historic local villages, bordered by over 65,000 newly planted trees, some planted by Rolls-Royce colleagues. A new dew pond has also been created on Goodwood Estate Farm to support the natural habitat of the pigs kept there. Determined to avoid using a man-cmade liner, the team explored various methods and ultimately employed the innovative gleying technique – a natural process that mimics the way ponds sometimes form in the wild.
BUILDING FOR OUR FUTURE
In March 2024, Rolls-Royce obtained planning permission for the first major extension to the Home of Rolls-Royce since it opened in 2003. In all, approximately one-third of the new site will consist of features and measures specifically designed to support wildlife and promote biodiversity. These include planting thousands of trees and bushes from a range of native British and locally occurring species. A landscaped perimeter bund will provide a visual screen; lighting schemes and equipment are designed to minimise light pollution, in accordance with ‘dark skies’ guidance. Attenuation will be provided across the site to capture all surface water.
The extension will feature a bio-solar roof, combining solar panels with a ‘living roof’. The roof will consist of native wildflowers, thereby supporting native insects and birds as well as mitigating the long-distance views from the neighbouring South Downs National Park.
Rolls-Royce Motor Cars worked closely with ecologists and the Goodwood Estate to safely translocate protected reptiles from the construction site. Following a detailed ecological assessment, a new receptor site was confirmed as suitable, and over the summer months, two grass snakes, 11 common lizards and 215 slow worms were carefully relocated. To support their long-term habitat, Goodwood’s Forestry team created a range of enhancements, including six hibernacula, six timber and brash piles, multiple ponds and a series of scrapes designed to promote biodiversity and provide secure overwintering conditions.
An existing footpath that crosses the site has been diverted and significantly upgraded for all-weather usability and year-round wheelchair access. Its width has been doubled to increase accessibility, while extensive landscaping will enhance both its recreational value and support for biodiversity.