About
Fox’s Field is a 8.5 acre area of open green space close to Tonedale Mill on the outskirts of Wellington. In 2019 this was acquired by Somerset West and Taunton council with the intention of preserving this as amenity land for community use. Transition Town Wellington is working to ensure that this space is further enhanced and protected: to increase biodiversity, help flood mitigation and carbon sequestration, to maintain footpaths and help access, and to involve the whole community in helping this beautiful open space to flourish. Work started in autumn 2021, with cutting and baling grass. This not only created mulch for the plants and trees of the forest garden, but helps to reduce the vigour of coarse grasses, giving wildflowers the chance to grow, adding to the biodiversity of the meadow, which makes it 8x better for wildlife and storing 5x more carbon in the soil.
Directions
Please walk or cycle if you can. There is limited parking space behind the Tonedale One Stop shop. Short walk down Millstream Gardens and along the footpath at Weavers Reach. Turn left over the footbridge near the children’s play area and left into Fox’s Field. What3words: amazed.violinist.entrusted. You can also enter via the gate on Linden Hill, next to the metal storage container where we usually meet at the start of gardening sessions. What3words: deputy.spoons.pizzeria.
Design
The designing of Fox’s Field started with some simple sketches: ‘dreaming on paper’ is what we called it. 6 of the team attended a forest garden design course with Rakesh of Roots’n’Permaculture and this allowed us to create a detailed design, incorporating as many of the community’s wishes as possible. These we had gleaned through three extensive community consultations during the first half of 2020.
Using a scale map, and tracing paper overlays, the design was created taking many factors into account: overhead power lines, underground pipes, frost pockets, prevailing wind, existing trees and plants, sun-and-shade patterns throughout the year, important view points, existing pathways, soil quality and pH, and so on.
Each of the main trees has been placed such that at its maximum height and spread it will not shade out the ground. This is a key part of forest garden design – allowing light down to the ground cover layer.
Implementation
In December 21-Jan 22, volunteers from across the community helped to plant the forest garden area with over 330 trees and bushes. Cardboard and grass mulch has been used to suppress the grass and add nutrients to the soil around the plants. We are using the ‘no-dig’ method which avoids the use herbicides and is much better for soil health.
The plan is to gradually replace the grass within the perimeter food hedge (or ‘fedge’) with perennial groundcover plants. This will provide nectar for bees, permanent habitat for a range of wildlife, edible and medicinal herbs, and a beautiful place for people to enjoy.
A woven willow bench, which children from local Court Fields school helped Stefan Jennings to create, along with a log seating area in the herb area provide lovely places to sit and soak up the peaceful surroundings and the stunning views of Tonedale Mill alongside the field.
To join in our regular community gardening sessions, drop us a line at community.ttw@gmail.com and sign up for our monthly newsletter.
Biodiversity
Using mulches and no-dig gardening methods helps to maintain and increase the rich microbiome of the soil. The nematodes, earthworms, beetles, amphibians and other minibeasts are all thriving under this new regime.
With the cut grass in hay bales, long grassy patches and short mown pathways, piles of hay mulch, compost and woodchip, there are many more habitats and foraging opportunities for birds, often seen feeding along the hedgerow and among the plants.
2019
Acquired
34,390m²
Size
390
Plants Added
Plant Species
Existing Trees
- 2x Sycamore
- 6x English oak
- 2x Scots pine
- 1x Hawthorn
- 3x Ash
- 1x European Alder
- 1x Willow
Added Trees
Windbreak
Food hedge
Planting Plan
The plan of Fox’s Field was created to ensure there is sufficient space, even when the trees reach their maximum spread, to allow light down to the ground layer. The planting on site faithfully following this plan.
The orchard area is dotted with apples, plums, pears, apricots and sweet cherries as well as a heritage mulberry, along with nut-bearing trees such as hazel, yellowhorn, bladdernut and walnut. The perimeter is planted up with a food hedge or ‘fedge’ containing herbs such as sage and rosemary, spices such as sumac and Szechwan pepper, and fruit such as redcurrants, gooseberries, blackcurrants, juneberries and gojiberries.
The windbreak along the railway line consists of nitrogen-fixers, such as alder, eleagnus and sea buckthorn. To the east and northeast, the windbreak is lower to ensure the monument view stays intact, and the existing circuit footpath remains where it has always been.
Hay bales are being used to anchor sheets of black plastic in order to suppress the grass and get the ground ready for planting the ground cover plants into. This will take several years to complete: meanwhile, the bales are being used to grow veg and herbs in for everyone to harvest, and the rotted hay makes an excellent mulch for the trees and plants.
Photos – Spring 2026
Photos – Winter 2025/26
Photos – Autumn 2025
Photos – Summer 2025
Photos – Spring 2025
Photos – Winter 2025
Photos – December 2024 Herb signs and new benches
Photos – October 2024 Gardening
Photos – September 2024 mulching with card
Photos – Container 2024
Photos – Nature 2023
Photos – Volunteering 2023
Photos – Food 2023
Photos – Watering 2023
Photos – Planting 2023
Photos – Bird Walk 2023
Photos – Watering 2022
Photos – Planting 2022
Photos – Launch 2022
Photos – Early Days
2023 & 2024 videos
Fly past 2024
Presentation 2024
Fly past 2023
Vox Pop Videos Jan 2022
Vox Pop 1
Vox Pop 2
Vox Pop 3
Vox Pop 4
Vox Pop 5
Vox Pop 6
Vox Pop 7
Vox Pop 8
Vox Pop 9
Vox Pop 10
Vox Pop 11
Vox Pop 12
Vox Pop 13
Vox Pop 14
Vox Pop 15
Vox Pop 16
Vox Pop 17
Vox Pop 18
Videos 2021
Blessing Fox’s field 2021
Explaining Fox’s field 2021 (Part 1)
Explaining Fox’s field (Part 2)
Shifting Bales