Farming an ancient estate hand in hand with the environment

Situated to the north west of Carlisle, the estate is bounded by the M6 to the east, the Solway to the west and the rivers Esk and Eden to the north and south respectively. 

The confluence of the two rivers creates one of the estate's defining features; the intertidal zone of about 1,000 hectares which sits between them and provides land for grazing, as well as an essential habitat for birds and other wildlife.  

However, alongside livestock farming, Castletown also grows crops, manages forests and also operates hospitality and property businesses. 

Since 1807 the estate has been owned by the Mounsey-Heyshams, with ninth generation Toby Mounsey-Heysham the current owner. 

Farm and estate director Ruari Martin says one thing that has remained consistent over the last 200 years has been the grazing of the saltmarsh by sheep and cattle, of which Castletown currently has 3,000 and 1,000 respectively. 

"The marsh itself - the shape of it and the topography and where certain ditches are - will have altered in that time, but the challenges of the tide and having grazing animals out in high tides have remained," he says. 

"We have sheep and lambs on the marsh in the summer months, basically, between the spring equinox tide and the autumn equinox tide when the height of the tides are lower, and the marsh doesn't really get covered by floodwaters as much. It's good grazing for the livestock and they are also out there to manage the habitat for the biodiversity that we have on the marsh.” 

The marsh itself is a SSSI and a vital breeding habitat for wading birds including barnacle geese, which fly there from Svalbard, in Iceland, each year. 

“The majority that come to the UK will stop at the marsh first and take a breath to recover,” says Ruari. 

Tens of thousands of other geese, mallard, teal, wigeon, lapwing, redshank and many others also call the wetland their home.  

“You name it in wading birds and we’ve probably got it,” says Ruari. 

"We view ourselves as not farmers or foresters or environmentalists, we're very much land managers. We farm commercially, hand in hand with the environment. We're using the grazing animals as a tool to manage the habitat and the biodiversity." 

In contrast to the saltmarsh, the sandy soil means inland areas - which make up about another 1,000 hectares of the estate - are very well drained and good land for growing produce including maize, beans, wheat and barley, which are used as animal feed. 

It also produces potatoes which are sold for human consumption to McCain. 

During the winter the livestock will be transferred from the coastal area to the fields to eat forage crops such as turnips and red kale.  

Although the free-draining soil is good for growing vegetables, it struggles to hold onto nutrients. 

​​"That's partly where the livestock come in and the arable rotation and putting all that fantastic muck and organic matter back into the soils each year to help maintain the structure and the nutrition that the crop needs," says Ruari.  

"We try and have a fairly circular relationship between the various enterprises on the farm and the waste product from one enterprise will be used as an input into another so we can be as self-sufficient as we can. 

"It always makes me laugh when people start talking about regenerative farming as the next big thing.  

“What I would describe as regenerative farming is what our grandparents used to do and it's something we've done for years.  

“It's something that the likes of our business and many other businesses in the North West and Cumbria have been doing for a long time.” 

Out on the marshes, the different browsing styles of different animals benefit different species.  

For example, a lapwing enjoys short-cropped vegetation provided by sheep, while a redshank prefers isolated hollow tussocks created by cattle. 

"We're working very closely with Natural England and Cumbria Wildlife Trust, monitoring bird life and monitoring the success or failure of clutches each year and reviewing the numbers and the grazing management and seeing how we can do things and move things to improve that symbiotic relationship,” says Ruari.  

Away from the farming business, Castletown House regularly hosts coach tours as they work their way from Edinburgh down to London, as well as using it for other events. 

The estate’s woodland provides the setting for weddings, with teepees set up in a glade with capacity for 120 people and also produces luxury glamping pods for sale to other businesses. 

Buildings on the estate are also let out commercially and it is in the process of applying for permission to convert disused farm buildings into holiday lets or potentially a cafe.  

The estate has a long history and experience of land management and is also able to carry out work for other landowners via its environmental contracting business Anser.  

Like all farming-related businesses, Castletown has been busy adapting to the changes to funding for agriculture following Brexit, with the European Union Common Agricultural Policy giving way to the Environmental Land Management Scheme (ELMS).  

ELMS will see farmers being paid subsidies for managing land in a way which benefits the environment. 

“We’ve been looking at where the opportunities are in this and what we can do,” says Ruari. 

"Certain areas of the farm where we've actually been spending 90 per cent of our time and getting 10 per cent of our return might be better utilised as environmental areas making use of some of the other funding streams that are coming on board in terms of potential biodiversity net gain or nutrient neutrality.” 

The estate has already entered into two higher tier Countryside Stewardship Agreements as of January, involving £2.5m of work to enhance habitats on the farm, including creating a freshwater marsh area. 

It is also in the process of adapting about 380 acres of commercial spruce forestry by letting native species take hold again as fir trees are felled.  

The area will be used as woodland pasture for cattle and there is even a longer term plan to introduce bison and beaver into the area as management tools, adding to the estate’s potential as an ecotourism attraction. 

“We’ll also be trying to link through some of the other historical habitats by opening up wildlife corridors between them and just generally enhancing the biodiversity on the estate with a view to leveraging the asset that we have and starting to develop revenue from ecotourism, developing the capability for bed nights so that we've got the room to cater for people that want to come and see different bird life and just stay in this wonderful environment,” says Ruari. 

"When there's that much going on, there's always something going wrong and you just have to not panic about that and just look at the challenges that we have at face value.  

“You have to switch your mindset and look for the opportunity within it to either learn or pivot your management or approach.  

“We've always got to change and move forward and keep adapting and the minute we stand still is the minute we start going backwards.”