CELEBRATING NATURE: WILDLIFE AT THE HOME OF ROLLS-ROYCE – AutoMart Canada

• 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.