Waterton’s Wall

Charles Waterton (1782-1865) was an extraordinary man and thought to be the world’s first environmentalist, his belief in the importance of the natural world being at odds with the times when the persecution of wildlife was accepted as a necessity. He was opposed to the killing of birds of prey, arguing for the balance of nature. Having experienced this balance when in the Guianan jungle, and seen for himself the beauty of a world untouched by man, his beliefs deepened.

Upon returning to his estate at Walton Hall in Yorkshire, he was dismayed by the effects of poaching on his land. This, combined with the prevalence of foxes, led him to create a nature reserve with the protection of wildfowl as a priority. He did so by building a wall around his parkland. When he had 500 guineas to spare he would buy a quantity of stone and employ some masons until the money ran out. This is evidenced today by the different qualities of stone which can be seen in the remains of some sections. Taking over four years to complete and in total over three miles long, the wall enclosed hundreds of acres including 26 acres of open water and seven and a half acres of pleasure grounds. Costing around £10,000, a huge sum in those days, Waterton, being a teetotaller, said, 

“it was paid for by the wine I do not drink”.

The nine-foot minimum height was crucial if he were to exclude the fox, and by banning the gun a wildlife haven was created. During one winter, Waterton records over 5000 fowl on his lake and over the years recorded 123 species of birds. Well known in his day, Charles Waterton was a friend of the then elderly Sir Joseph Banks and was visited by Charles Darwin and other notables of the time. A man of vision he considered field sports to the entirely ill judged.

200 years ago the wall was under construction and only now are we seeing buzzards and kites return to the skies over Walton Hall Estate, the world's first Nature Reserve.

Barbara Phipps

Author: Charles Waterton: Creator of the First Nature Reserve (published 2019)