Clumber Park is one of only 146 Grade I listed parks in Britain and is one of the most-visited. We spoke to general manager Rob Holder about how it continues to evolve and plans for improving infrastructure.

With 3,800 acres to explore, Clumber Park offers something for the whole family this spring. You can roam the Pleasure Grounds, visit the Chapel of St Mary the Virgin, walk Lime Tree Avenue or drop into the tiny village of Hardwick – and there’s much more.

Over 720,000 visitors come to this corner of North Nottinghamshire each year, which has been under the National Trust umbrella since 1946. But its history goes far beyond that. 

The story of Clumber Park began in 1709 when John Holles, the 3rd Duke of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, was granted a licence to enclose 3,000 acres of Sherwood Forest and turn it into a deer park for Queen Anne. 

It was the 2nd Duke – Henry Fiennes Pelham-Clinton – who really left his mark on the parkland, building a stunning mansion at its heart in the early 1760s. Designed by Stephen Wright, it was regarded as one of the finest non-Royal houses in the country. It was a classical building of white freestone (brought from the Duke’s own quarry), flanked by a square wing at each corner, with the central portion, which faced the lake, containing a light Ionic colonnade.

The gardens and parkland of the estate were also particularly impressive, both in scale and the care and money that had been lavished upon them.

The double avenue of lime trees, created for the 5th Duke, was planted with 1,296 trees and stood at three miles long. Today, it is still the longest in Europe.

Hardwick village was created in the 1850s, a model village for the 5th Duke’s estate workers. It housed a post office and general store, village hall and two schools; one for village children and the other, for the students of the Clumber Chapel choir, housed in the Choir Hostel also situated in the village. The village school was destroyed by fire in 1932. Almost everything the dukes needed for their estate could be found within the boundaries of Clumber Park, and the village played no small part in that self-sufficiency.

During the Second World War, the park was used by the army for ammunition storage and military training. The Lincoln Stables were used as a decontamination centre, the cricket pavilion as a medical hut and the Duke’s garage was used for entertainment and meetings. After the war, clearing the park of ammunition took many years and it was 1955 before the military eventually left.

After purchasing Clumber Park just after the war, the National Trust opened it to the public in the late 1950s with its natural beauty proving hugely popular with visitors. Indeed, it is one of the Trust’s most visited places and is one of only 146 Grade I listed parks in Britian. 

Charged with maintaining the park, and developing and improving it for future generations, is current general manager Rob Holder. 

“I want to hand the park over in a bit better condition to the next generation,” said Rob, who has worked at Clumber (and related properties) since August 2022. 

“If you’re sitting here in 50 years’ time talking to another version of me, I would hope it would be a similar message. I’m merely a custodian at this moment in time.”

Conservation is at heart of Rob’s responsibilities, be that restoring historic landscapes, protecting rare species or preserving vital habitats. 

“Visitors play an important role in protecting the park,” added Rob. “By following our guidelines and respecting the natural surroundings, you are helping to ensure that Clumber Park continues to be a vibrant and protected environment for future generations.”

Clumber Park is part of the Countryside Stewardship scheme, a government-backed initiative funding and supporting the restoration of wildlife habitats to protect nature. At the park you’ll find diverse range of habitats including wood pasture, heathland, broadleaf woodland, coniferous woodland, wetland, lake and acid grassland. Visitors can see firsthand how careful land management supports biodiversity, restores habitats, and preserves the natural beauty of the park.

But Rob would like to do much more.

“I don’t think we’ve done enough for our visitors to talk about conservation,” he said. “We have a conservation management plan, which is basically an umbrella strategy of how we look after nature but we need to do a better job at engaging our visitors.”

In response to this, you’ll find new displays in the main core as well as improved signage throughout the park. 

Rob is also keen to engage younger visitors and has been working with Nottingham Trent University to bring many of their students to the park.

“We’re going to need to evolve and for me, I’m really interested in the Gen z and Gen Alphas, which are the next two generations who are going to come in after me,” he explained. “They’re really savvy, they’re climate-focused and they love nature. If I can spark something in someone, to me, that’s purpose. That’s why I’m doing what I’m doing.”

Of course, for even younger children there’s even more to discover at Clumber with the Discovery Centre, where you can learn more about the park and its wildlife, as well as the Bird Hide and Woodland Play Park. There’s also a dedicated sensory space, which provides a much-needed break from the hustle and bustle. 

Clumber Park has a dedicated calendar of events too, which will run throughout the summer and right up to Christmas. There’s everything from park runs and dog walks to photography workshops and walled kitchen garden tours.

Behind the scenes, work continues to improve the infrastructure in the park with a firm emphasis on parking. 

“We are victims of our own success really, having grown visitor numbers from just under 600,000 to 720,000,” explained Rob. “I know what the problems are but as a charity, there’s no direct government funding or support so I need to raise money from our visitor business to improve our visitor infrastructure.

“It’s fair that we’re coming under some criticism. In an ideal world, the baseline infrastructure would be sorted and you would layer on top, but unfortunately in a heritage site with limited funding, it doesn’t work like that.”

Despite the challenges, work is underway to create a new 1,000-plus space hardstanding car park as well as three peripheral ones, which will allow visitors to explore the wider estate and park away from the main visitor facilities if preferred.

With so many different elements to manage, including over 500 active volunteers alongside the permanent staff, no two days are the same for Rob but he wouldn’t have it any other way.

“There’s nothing more rewarding than standing in the middle of Clumber Park on a really busy Bank Holiday Monday and seeing the smiles and laughter, it’s pretty special,” he said.