Our commitment to the land

To create a boutique apart hotel and retreat venue every guest wakes up to birdsong


OUR LIVING LANDSCAPE

ROOTED IN NATURE


At Sefton Place, nature is not simply the view beyond the window. We are restoring habitats, planting for biodiversity and creating space for wildlife to thrive, while inviting our guests to slow down, reconnect with the landscape and experience the wellbeing that comes from being surrounded by nature.

WILDFLOWERS & WILDER SPACES

We are replacing areas of close-cut grass with wildflower meadow planting and allowing selected parts of the grounds to grow longer and wilder. The aim is simple: more flowers, more insects, more shelter and a richer habitat for pollinators and the wildlife that depends on them.

TREES, ORCHARD & EDIBLES

New native and fruiting trees are helping to build layers of habitat across the grounds, while our orchard and edible planting provide blossom, fruit, shelter and food throughout the seasons. Orchards can be extraordinarily valuable wildlife habitats as well as beautiful, productive places for guests to enjoy.

WAKE UP TO BIRDSONG

Our ambition has always been for every guest to wake up to birdsong. Rather than simply attracting birds in isolation, we are working to support the wider food chain they rely on, from flowering plants and insects to trees, hedgerows, water and undisturbed habitat.

HOMES FOR WILDLIFE

Nest boxes, bird boxes and other wildlife shelters are being introduced throughout the grounds to create safe places to feed, rest, breed and raise young. As the landscape matures, these small interventions help make Sefton Place a more welcoming home for a much wider range of species.

POND LIFE

Our wildlife pond adds another vital layer to the Sefton Place habitat, providing water, shelter and feeding opportunities for insects, amphibians, birds and other wildlife. Managed to balance open water with planted edges, it is designed to become richer and more valuable as the surrounding landscape matures.

GIVING BACK TO THE LANDSCAPE

Supporting the South Downs


The South Downs is part of what makes Sefton Place special, and we believe staying here should help protect it too. Alongside restoring our own grounds, we support wider projects that reconnect habitats, restore freshwater, plant for the future and help wildlife move through the landscape.

VISITOR GIVING

Every stay gives something back. We are committed to donating a proportion of stays at Sefton Place through the South Downs National Park Trust Visitor Giving programme, helping turn tourism into direct support for nature recovery across the National Park. Since the programme began in 2019, participating businesses and visitors have generated more than £70,000 for projects including trees, wildflowers, hedgerows and access to the outdoors. 

POUNDS FOR PONDS

Our pond story continues beyond our own grounds. Having restored and developed our own wildlife pond at Sefton Place, supporting Pounds for Ponds felt like a natural fit. The South Downs initiative aims to create or restore around 100 ponds across Hampshire and Sussex, rebuilding a network of freshwater habitats that provide water, breeding grounds and refuge for wildlife. 

TREES FOR THE DOWNS

Planting for generations to come. Through Trees for the Downs, Sefton Place is adding native trees and hedgerow planting to our own landscape while contributing to a much bigger ambition. The programme has already enabled more than 100,000 trees to be planted across the National Park and is now working towards at least one million more. 

WEALD TO WAVES

Nature needs connections, not islands. We support the principle behind Weald to Waves, an ambitious project creating a 100-mile nature recovery corridor across Sussex, linking the High Weald with the coast across more than 20,000 hectares. Our own meadows, trees, pond, hedgerows and wildlife habitats are small pieces of that same bigger idea: making it easier for nature to move through the landscape. 

MORE SPACE FOR NATURE

Helping rebuild the network. Our wildflower planting and less intensively managed areas echo the wider nature recovery work happening across the South Downs, where initiatives such as Beelines are reconnecting flowering habitats for bees, butterflies and other pollinators. The aim is not simply more wildlife within Sefton Place, but healthier habitat connected across the wider landscape.

REGENERATIVE HOSPITALITY

NATURE AS PART OF THE STAY

Sefton Place is designed around the idea that hospitality can give something back, both to the landscape and to the people who spend time here. By creating space for wildlife, encouraging guests outdoors and surrounding each stay with nature, we hope to make it easier to slow down, breathe more deeply and reconnect with a gentler rhythm.

SLOW DOWN

Time in nature creates space to step away from noise, screens and everyday demands, helping guests decompress and settle into a slower pace.

RECONNECT

From birdsong and meadow walks to quiet moments in the garden, the natural world becomes part of the experience, encouraging connection with yourself, with others and with the landscape.

LEAVE RESTORED

A stay at Sefton Place is intended to feel restorative in the broadest sense, combining fresh air, movement, stillness and meaningful time outdoors with the comfort of thoughtful hospitality.

AFTER DARK

UNDER THE SOUTH DOWNS STARS

When the sun goes down, Sefton Place offers a completely different way to reconnect with nature. We sit within the South Downs International Dark Sky Reserve, one of the most accessible protected dark-sky landscapes in the country, and on clear nights the skies above us can be spectacular. The National Park actively promotes astrotourism and its Dark Skies Welcome scheme for accommodation providers who want to help guests experience stargazing, astrophotography, nocturnal wildlife and the night landscape.

STARGAZE FROM THE DECK

Our outdoor deck gives guests a quiet place to step outside, look up and spend an evening beneath the stars without even leaving Sefton Place.

We have signed up to the South Downs Dark Skies Welcome initiative, helping guests make the most of the night sky with practical information, local guidance and a commitment to protecting darkness as part of the landscape. The scheme is specifically designed to support visitors interested in stargazing and other night-time experiences.

Dark skies are not only about stars. They also support nocturnal wildlife, from bats and moths to owls and nightjars, making an evening outside another opportunity to experience the living landscape around Sefton Place. The National Park notes that 17 of the UKs 18 native bat species have been recorded in the South Downs.

Winter and spring bring longer dark evenings, making Sefton Place an ideal base for a
dedicated stargazing escape. Nearby Bignor Hill, between Arundel and Petworth, is
highlighted by the National Park as one of the darkest locations in the reserve, with excellent Milky Way views on moonless nights.

COME AND EXPERIENCE IT FOR YOURSELF

Wake to birdsong, wander through the grounds, watch the landscape change through the seasons and step outside beneath the South Downs night sky. Choose the space that suits you and make nature part of your stay at Sefton Place.

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