Supporting Wildlife Through Thoughtful Habitat Design

03rd October 2025

Goodwood is unique, a venue for both people and wildlife. Balancing these needs is vital to the estate’s growth and preservation. Longevity of this symbiotic relationship will ensure that people and wildlife are able to continue to thrive here for years to come.

Across the Goodwood Estate we manage the mosaic of habitats for many different species, including bats. We have around 13 different bat species that have been spotted on the estate, roosting, feeding, hibernating or using the grounds as a flight corridor to connect between habitats.

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GOODWOOD ESTATE PROJECT..STARTED IN 2019, COMMISSIONED BY DR

A couple of ways we are helping increase and maintain the bat inhabitants across the Estate is by planting ‘bat corridors’. Bats use these tree lines and other linear features like hedgerows, woodlands and rivers as corridors to commute from one area of countryside to another. These features act as navigational landmarks and can also provide protection from predators. Another way is through the creation of our bat hotel - restoring an old outbuilding, to provide a summer and winter roost for the rare greater horseshoe bats that live at Goodwood.

Did you know? 

Female bats are inseminated before hibernation, but they store the sperm until the following spring when fertilization will take place. How’s that for planned birth control!

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Image credit: Max Carter

The most recent way The Goodwood Estate is protecting bat species is through bat box creation. We already have several bat boxes located around the estate primarily around the motor circuit, but this March, Goodwood teamed up with Vincent Wildlife Trust to create more habitats for our most rare and threatened species such as the Greater Horseshoe bat

Staff at Goodwood got stuck in and hands on in creating a few different types of bat boxes and roosting perches to put up around the estate and other key locations in Sussex. Bat species have different needs when it comes to habitats. We created boxes for both crevice and void dwelling bats, these boxes were designed to create a varied microclimate for bats to use at different times of the year.

Void Dwellers- prefer to roost in larger, open spaces within buildings, such as roof voids, attics, or areas with exposed beams. We designed bat boxes that will be erected inside attic spaces and hibernation sites targeting some of the rarer species found in Sussex.

Crevice Dwellers- prefer to roost in small, enclosed spaces, like crevices under tiles, in cavity walls, or under fascia boards. Bat boxes for crevice dwellers have narrow entrances and internal crevices to simulate their natural roosting environment. 

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Vincent Wildlife Trust’s Horseshoes Heading East project is apart of the species recovery programme capital grant scheme managed by Natural England to help recover 150 species nationwide.

This partnership project, led by Vincent Wildlife Trust and working with AEWC a specialist wildlife consultancy, aims to create a viable population of greater horseshoe bats in southeast England through a combination of roost creation and habitat enhancement. Improving connectivity across the landscape and linking maternity sites will improve the breeding success of this rare and iconic species. The project will also support other rare bat species such as the Greater Mouse-eared Bat and the Grey Long-eared Bat.

VWT's vision is that Greater Horseshoe Bats are once again established and thriving in the southeast and that our approach to their recovery can be replicated elsewhere on the edge of the species range.

Together we aim to do this through a combination of roost adaptation, habitat enhancement and improved landscape connectivity to facilitate their dispersal, link maternity sites and increase breeding success. Across the estate, we have been able to:

  • enhance several sites for hibernation,
  • ensured roosts are protected from predators and disturbance
  • adapted a building to create a perfect roost for greater horseshoe bats which includes warm roosting areas for bats to raise their young and a spiral hibernaculum designed to help bats survive the winter.

Positive outcomes have already been seen across the estate, with bats already using the new enhancements. Bats are key indicators of environmental health, and it’s great to be able to support so many different species at Goodwood.

 

 

 

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