Savernake Forest

It's an ancient hunting ground with thousands of 'veteran' trees. Henry VIII visited often as it was the seat of the Seymour Family at nearby Wolfhall. Martha visits the forest to learn about its past as well as how ecologist Andy Harris and forester Nikki Morgans manage this special site and aim to 'future proof' it protecting the ancient trees and wildlife for the next thousand years. Historian Graham Bathe helps her measure one of the thousand year old trees and Emma Heard who produces the Weird Wiltshire blog recounts tales of hauntings from the forest. Producer: Maggie Ayre

You can listen to Savernake Forest online on Radio and Podcast. Open the player on this page to stream the available audio.

Savernake Forest is an episode from Open Country by BBC.

This episode is 23:47 long.

This episode was published on Mar 2, 2026.

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