National Trust Calke Explore

The National Trust team at Calke Abbey wanted to add some of our natural play designs to this popular site. In two phases, we designed and installed four exciting play features that blend perfectly with the woodland setting of the play area. Calke Abbey is such an amazing National Trust property and to reflect this, we designed the four features to echo what's special about it. The adjacent parkland at Calke is a site of special scientific interest and full of stunning ancient trees. We wanted to inroduce more large tree trunks to the play area to make this connection. To do this we used some of the estate oak timber felled from thinning work and some larger oak felled for tree safety from the nearby Staunton Harold estate.

We used the spectacular natural oak to create a giant accessible nest swing, an oak climbing stump with bracket fungi, the Wildwood stage (for outdoor performances) and the Unstately Towers - a large tree trunk climbing feature with a rope tunnel between the towers. All of the structures are made from natural untreated oak and will slowly return their carbon store to the soil over many years as well as attracting life associated with deadwood. The bracket fungi we carved are made to look like real oak polypore fungi and double up as steps.

The Wildwood Stage includes an accessible ramp so that everyone can have their moment on stage! All together, these are great additions to Calke explore providing up close to nature play experiences for everyone.