A Mindful Meadow at Chirk Castle has been developed to connect people to nature and help their health and wellbeing for free.

Over the last 12 months National Trust Cymru have been working with local organisations Gap to design and create a Mindful Meadow at Chirk Castle at the 0.65 hectares of SSSI (Site of Special Scientific Interest).

The organisation included Cadwyn Clwyd, NEWCIS, BCUHB Health Improvement Team, Home Start Wrexham, North East Wales Mind, Rainbow Foundation and We Mind The Gap.

From planting trees and wildflower seeds to building benches and wildlife homes, the groups have transformed the area into a flourishing meadow where people can sit back and gaze at the Ceriog Valley, find peace in the willow dome, observe wildlife buzzing about the orchard and watch the clouds float by.

Katie Rees-Jones, senior volunteer and community officer at Chirk Castle, National Trust Cymru said: “We are delighted to have created this space together, enabling the passion, care and love we all have for nature and wellbeing to be woven throughout the whole meadow for everyone to enjoy.”

“In creating the meadow we drew inspiration from Octavia Hill, one of the founders of National Trust who in 1895 said:

‘We all need space, we all need peace, we all need beauty, without it we cannot find the sense of quiet where whispers of better things come to us gently’. 

“We all have times in our lives where we need to hear these whispers. By working with community groups who have a real understanding of this need, we have created a space that can benefit everyone.”

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The Mindful Meadow was completed in spring 2023 and sits outside the pay boundary, so is free to access.

On the benefits that have been overserved so far, Sue Jones, the volunteer and community manager at Chirk Castle & Erddig said: “We’ve seen some of the wildlife here develop and we’ve got more of that. The grass is improving, overtime that will improve. What we’ve seen in terms of people is people accessing it, we’ve had groups that have come to do yoga here.

“We’ve had people coming and do counselling sessions here we had the public who just wanted to find some quiet space, even our own, even myself I’ve come down when I’ve had a stressful day, sat for 10 or 15 minutes and it just gives you that space to connect with nature and decompress. That’s the benefits we’ve seen so far and I want to see that develop.”

WATCH: The Mindful Meadow at Chirk Castle 

The area is part of Chirk Castle’s SSSI, designated for its rare invertebrates, lesser horseshoe bats and grassland fungi which means any changes to the landscape must be approved by Natural Resources Wales (NRW).

National Trust Cymru worked closely with NRW to develop the plans for the meadow, ensuring the design met the community need but also improved the overall biodiversity of the area. 

Pollinator rich native tree species and wildflower seed mix were selected to boost wildlife food sources. The hedgerow mixture, location and length were adjusted to maximise the benefit to the local bat population, increasing their feeding area and creating wildlife corridors.

The project has been developed by National Trust Cymru with the generous support of Cadwyn Clwyd’s Green Communities Project which is funded by the EU and Welsh Government Rural Communities Rural Development Programme and delivered in collaboration with Natural Resources Wales (NRW).

For more information about the Mindful Meadow and wellbeing at Chirk Castle, head to; https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/visit/wales/chirk-castle/mindful-meadow