Our History

In March 1958, John Clegg, a museum curator in Haslemere and interested ecologist, wrote to his acquaintance, John Sankey, ‘I wonder if a few of us might get together to formulate some plans about a Trust…’ One year later, the idea became reality - the Surrey Naturalists’ Trust was launched to protect wildlife and educate the public about nature, on 21^st March, 1959 in a Surrey County Council chamber.

The Trust’s first ever reserve, Seale Chalk Pit was bought from Jesus College, Cambridge, in 1960. It took two years for ownership to be transferred, but in 1962 the Trust finally had a patch to call its own – today it is a rich chalk grassland habitat, a haven for butterflies and home to iconic plants like bee orchid, spotted orchid and red valerian.

In 1965, Bay Pond, an old mill pond near Godstone that powered gunpowder mills 400 years ago, was given to the Trust by Miss E. J. Lindley of Godstone Place. It has since become one of our two education reserves, home to dragonflies and water birds, and surrounded by beautiful wildflower meadows.

Saving Nower Wood

In November 1971, the Trust saved a unique piece of ancient woodland near Leatherhead from felling, sparing over 1000 oak trees and securing a place for a new education reserve. With a £15,000 debt to pay off, the Trust launched an appeal that drew over 600 donations, some from as far off as Canada and the US, raising £20,000 and saving 83 acres of woodland for generations to come.

8 years after saving Nower Wood from devastation, the Trust opened a new Education Centre, complete with a new classroom and research equipment. In its first year operating on a full-time basis, the reserve saw over 3,000 visitors including pupils from some 80 schools.

The Trust marked 25 years of protecting Surrey’s wildlife with a Jubilee Dinner and sold special memorabilia, including a dragonfly tie! The Trust looked to the next 25 years and the new millennium, and David Attenborough wrote: ‘The pressure on our countryside has never been greater than it is today; so it becomes more important than ever to protect these few natural areas that remain and that mean so very much to so many. No organisation has done more to ensure their survival in this part of the country than the Surrey Trust and I, together with countless other inhabitants of the county, am most grateful to you.’

In 1987, thanks in large part to the efforts of Mary Adler and other local people, Brentmoor Heath was saved from being sold by the MOD for housing. A milestone for the Trust, the heath was its first reserve with full public access, and Mary’s years of tireless work as volunteer warden helped preserve and improve vital heathland habitat.

On 1^st April 1995, the Trust officially launched its new headquarters at an old schoolhouse in Pirbright. After moving from pillar to post for over 35 years, the nomadic Trust finally had a permanent base of operations.

Simon Humphreys and a handful of colleagues first started volunteering to clear scrub on Dawcombe in 1982. In 2000, thanks to Simon’s persistence in calling the owners, Pfizer, every year to persuade them to hand over the freehold of the site, the Trust acquired Dawcombe for £1. The site is abundant with butterflies, invertebrates and more than 50 species of bird.

A huge step forwards for the Trust came when it signed a unique partnership agreement with Surrey County Council. Suddenly, the Trust was everywhere, and much, much bigger - some of the new sites were larger than the Trust’s total estate before the deal. The Trust has been managing the council’s estate for the good of wildlife and people ever since.

In 2013, the Trust had the unique opportunity to create a completely new reserve by working with developers to cleared 1000 tons of tarmac from abandoned playing fields. This was a big step forward in creating a living landscape in Surrey, providing rich grassland habitat and a stepping stone between Howell Hill and the Epsom Downs. Butterfly counts in recent years have revealed an explosion of small blue butterflies.

The old wooden buildings at Nower Wood were now more than 40 years old and were falling apart. An ambitious fundraising campaign was launched in 2012 and was boosted by a grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund as well as donations from individual supporters and local businesses, eventually raising the £1.1 million required to build a new education centre.

Before building work began in 2016, topsoil was harvested from the site in a bid to retain a precious woodland seedbank and reptiles were carefully moved to new homes. That seedbank was then replanted and the centre is surrounded once again by bluebells and other woodland flora and fauna.   

After months of mud, hard hats and diggers, HRH The Countess of Wessex GCVO joined school children at the opening of the Trust’s brand new education centre in April 2017. The new education centre now housed three spacious heated classrooms, allowing the Trust to expand its programme of educational activities and up to 90 students can now be accommodated at any time of the year.

2019 marked a huge milestone for the Trust. We welcomed our new CEO, Sarah Jane Chimbwandira, and a new strategy to drive the creation of connectivity across the county. We also had a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to campaign for an Environment Act to protect wildlife and ensure its recovery for future generations. The Trust is now driving its mission to enhance wildlife and inspire the people of Surrey for the next 60 years and beyond.