Amberley Museum tools up for habitat improvement, thanks to the Nature Recovery Award

Louisa Jones
, 29 September 2025
Amberley Museum tools up for habitat improvement, thanks to the Nature Recovery Award
A volunteer uses shears to control Cotoneaster on Amberley Museum's hilltop nature trail. (Photo: Amberley Museum)

Amberley Museum is a unique environment set within an old chalk pit and lime works, where nature has reclaimed many of the quarry-side areas. This has created a mosaic of habitats supporting a wide variety of plant and animal species, including chalk downland orchids, butterflies and other insects, Noctule and Pipistrelle bats, Common Lizard, Red Kites, Peregrines and other birdlife.

Amberley Museum operates as an independent charity, reliant on visitor income, grants and donations for our operation. We rely on the efforts of a small team of staff, assisted by a number of volunteers, to maintain our 41-acre site.

The Nature Recovery Award has enabled us to invest in several tree poppers, which are invaluable in removing unwanted saplings and tree stumps from chalk grassland areas. The tools make easy work of a task that is otherwise time-consuming and physically demanding for our volunteer teams, so they have been a great investment for the future. We were also able to purchase pruning tools, secateurs and a heavy-duty wheelbarrow with the grant, which we have put to good use in removing invasive species from the site, such as Cotoneaster.

Staff and volunteers use the tree popper (yellow tool in centre of image) to remove unwanted saplings by the roots. (Photo: Amberley Museum)

This year, thanks to the grant, we have also been able to clear an area of scrub that was once chalk grassland. The work started in the Spring, when we had to remove a couple of large Ash trees suffering dieback. Several other trees had to be felled to access the Ash trees, which provided an opportunity open up the space and create a dead hedge around the edge. The area is already providing a welcome habitat, with a variety of wildflowers, fungi and insects spotted in the area, along with a family of Slow Worms making use of logs left in the space.

Over time, we are aiming to actively manage this area of habitat to return it to the chalk grassland it once was. Situated alongside our nature trail, it is in an ideal location to be away from the busier parts of the site, but still accessible enough for visitors to engage with the natural history of Amberley Museum.

A big thank-you to the Wilder Horsham District team for the pre-application support they provided, including a site visit and advice given over the phone. This helped us understand our site’s potential and prioritise projects that are both impactful and manageable given our means.

Does your community group or charity have a project in need of funds? Wilder Horsham District’s Nature Recovery Award supports practical, local projects to actively create, improve and/or connect natural habitats. Find out more on our dedicated web page.

Leave a comment
Time Δ Debug Message - Perch Runway 3.2
1782550639.1720 [906] SELECT p.pagePath, pr.routePattern, pr.routeRegExp, p.pageTemplate, pr.routeOrder, s.settingValue AS siteOffline FROM swt_pages_staging p LEFT JOIN swt_page_routes pr ON p.pageID=pr.pageID LEFT JOIN swt_settings s ON s.settingID='siteOffline' UNION SELECT NULL AS pagePath, pr2.routePattern, pr2.routeRegExp, pr2.templatePath AS pageTemplate, pr2.routeOrder, NULL AS siteOffline FROM swt_page_routes pr2 WHERE templateID!=0 ORDER BY routeOrder ASC, pagePath ASC
1782550639.21790.0459Matched route: news/[slug:s]
1782550639.2180.0001Server address: 216.73.216.31
1782550639.21810Using master page: /templates/pages/blog/post.php
1782550639.21810Page arguments: 
Array
(
    [0] => /news/amberley-museum-tools-up-for-habitat-improvement-thanks-to-the-nature-recovery-award
    [s] => amberley-museum-tools-up-for-habitat-improvement-thanks-to-the-nature-recovery-award
    [1] => amberley-museum-tools-up-for-habitat-improvement-thanks-to-the-nature-recovery-award
)
1782550639.21840.0003 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1782550639.21920.0008 [86] SELECT DISTINCT settingID, settingValue FROM swt_settings WHERE userID=0
1782550639.22720.008 [1] SELECT locationID FROM swt_shop_tax_locations WHERE locationIsHome=1 LIMIT 1
1782550639.22780.0006INSERT INTO swt_shop_cart(memberID,locationID,currencyID,cartPricing,cartProperties) VALUES(NULL,'1',47,'standard','[]')
1782550639.22940.0016 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_shop_cart WHERE cartID=22342625
1782550639.230.0006 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_shop_cart WHERE cartID=22342625
1782550639.23050.0005 [nil] SELECT * FROM swt_shop_sales WHERE saleFrom<='2026-06-27 08:57:00' AND saleTo>'2026-06-27 08:57:00' AND saleActive=1 AND saleDeleted IS NULL ORDER BY saleOrder ASC
1782550639.23180.0013 [1] SELECT SQL_CALC_FOUND_ROWS DISTINCT tbl.* FROM ( SELECT idx.itemID, main.*, idx2.indexValue as sortval FROM swt_blog_index idx JOIN swt_blog_posts main ON idx.itemID=main.postID AND idx.itemKey='postID' JOIN swt_blog_index idx2 ON idx.itemID=idx2.itemID AND idx.itemKey='postID' AND idx2.indexKey='_id' WHERE 1=1 AND ((idx.indexKey='postSlug' AND idx.indexValue='amberley-museum-tools-up-for-habitat-improvement-thanks-to-the-nature-recovery-award')) AND idx.itemID=idx2.itemID AND idx.itemKey=idx2.itemKey GROUP BY idx.itemID, idx2.indexValue, postID ) as tbl WHERE (postStatus='Published' AND postDateTime<='2026-06-27 08:57:00' ) GROUP BY itemID, sortval ORDER BY sortval ASC LIMIT 0, 10
1782550639.23410.0023 [1] SELECT FOUND_ROWS() AS `count`
1782550639.23460.0005 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_posts WHERE postID=3785 AND postStatus='Published' AND postDateTime<='2026-06-27 08:57:00'
1782550639.23530.0007 [13] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_sections ORDER BY sectionTitle ASC
1782550639.23590.0006 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_blogs ORDER BY blogTitle ASC
1782550639.23650.0005 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_categories WHERE catID=271 LIMIT 1
1782550639.23690.0004 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_categories WHERE catID=222 LIMIT 1
1782550639.23730.0004Using template: /templates/blog/post.html
1782550639.23740.0002 [162] SELECT catID, catPath FROM swt_categories
1782550639.23810.0007 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_posts WHERE postStatus='Published' AND postDateTime<='2026-06-27 08:57:00' AND postSlug='amberley-museum-tools-up-for-habitat-improvement-thanks-to-the-nature-recovery-award'
1782550639.26670.0286Using template: /templates/blog/post.html
1782550639.26720.0005 [250] SELECT country, countryID FROM swt_shop_countries WHERE countryActive=1 ORDER BY country ASC
1782550639.27360.0063Using template: /templates/pages/attributes/seo.html
1782550639.27380.0002 [1] SELECT regionID, regionTemplate, regionPage, regionRev AS rev FROM swt_content_regions WHERE regionKey='Banner image' AND (regionPage='/news/post' OR regionPage='*')
1782550639.27560.0018 [nil] SELECT * FROM ( SELECT idx.itemID, c.regionID, idx.pageID, c.itemJSON, idx2.indexValue as sortval FROM swt_content_index idx JOIN swt_content_items c ON idx.itemID=c.itemID AND idx.itemRev=c.itemRev AND idx.regionID=c.regionID JOIN swt_content_index idx2 ON idx.itemID=idx2.itemID AND idx.itemRev=idx2.itemRev AND idx2.indexKey='_order' WHERE ((idx.regionID=104 AND idx.itemRev=0)) AND idx.itemID=idx2.itemID AND idx.itemRev=idx2.itemRev ) as tbl GROUP BY itemID, pageID, itemJSON, sortval, regionID ORDER BY sortval ASC
1782550639.27810.0026 [82] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageNew=0 AND pageHidden=0 AND pageDepth >=0 AND pageDepth<=2 ORDER BY pageTreePosition ASC
1782550639.28310.005 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1782550639.28380.0006 [2] SELECT pageID FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition DESC
1782550639.28560.0019Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template.html
1782550639.28570 [6] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1782550639.28650.0008 [4] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1782550639.28690.0005 [29] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1782550639.28970.0027 [10] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1782550639.29080.0011 [7] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1782550639.29150.0007 [9] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1782550639.29430.0028 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' OR pageSortPath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1782550639.29510.0008 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageHidden=0 AND pageNew=0 AND pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition
1782550639.29710.0019 [1] Using template: /templates/navigation/breadcrumbs.html
1782550639.29750.0004Using template: /templates/blog/post.html
1782550639.29770.0002 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_authors WHERE authorID='33' LIMIT 1
1782550639.29830.0006Using template: /templates/blog/author.html
1782550639.29850.0003 [1] SELECT SQL_CALC_FOUND_ROWS DISTINCT tbl.* FROM ( SELECT idx.itemID, main.*, idx2.indexValue as sortval FROM swt_blog_index idx JOIN swt_blog_posts main ON idx.itemID=main.postID AND idx.itemKey='postID' JOIN swt_blog_index idx2 ON idx.itemID=idx2.itemID AND idx.itemKey='postID' AND idx2.indexKey='_id' WHERE 1=1 AND ((idx.indexKey='postSlug' AND idx.indexValue='amberley-museum-tools-up-for-habitat-improvement-thanks-to-the-nature-recovery-award')) AND idx.itemID=idx2.itemID AND idx.itemKey=idx2.itemKey GROUP BY idx.itemID, idx2.indexValue, postID ) as tbl WHERE (postStatus='Published' AND postDateTime<='2026-06-27 08:57:00' ) GROUP BY itemID, sortval ORDER BY sortval ASC LIMIT 0, 1
1782550639.30050.002 [1] SELECT FOUND_ROWS() AS `count`
1782550639.3010.0004 [1] Using template: /templates/blog/post.html
1782550639.30390.003Using template: /templates/blog/comment_form.html
1782550639.30460.0006 [nil] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_comments WHERE 1=1 AND postID=3785 AND commentStatus='LIVE' ORDER BY FIELD(webmentionType, 'like', 'repost', 'comment', NULL) ASC, commentDateTime ASC
1782550639.37830.0737 [0] Using template: /templates/blog/comment.html
1782550639.37850.0002Using template: /templates/blog/post.html
1782550639.37870.0002 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_authors WHERE authorID='33' LIMIT 1
1782550639.37930.0006 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/what-we-do' OR pageSortPath='/what-we-do' LIMIT 1
1782550639.380.0007 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition='000-002' LIMIT 1
1782550639.38060.0006 [7] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageNew=0 AND pageHidden=0 AND pageTreePosition LIKE '000-002%' AND pageDepth >=1 AND pageDepth<=2 ORDER BY pageTreePosition ASC
1782550639.38260.002 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1782550639.38310.0005 [2] SELECT pageID FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition DESC
1782550639.38480.0017 [6] Using template: /templates/navigation/footer-nav.html
1782550639.38620.0014 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/make-a-difference' OR pageSortPath='/make-a-difference' LIMIT 1
1782550639.38670.0004 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition='000-005' LIMIT 1
1782550639.38710.0004 [38] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageNew=0 AND pageHidden=0 AND pageTreePosition LIKE '000-005%' ORDER BY pageTreePosition ASC
1782550639.38930.0022 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1782550639.38980.0005 [2] SELECT pageID FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition DESC
1782550639.39160.0018 [10] Using template: /templates/navigation/footer-nav.html
1782550639.39340.0018 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/visit' OR pageSortPath='/visit' LIMIT 1
1782550639.39380.0004 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition='000-004' LIMIT 1
1782550639.39420.0004 [30] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageNew=0 AND pageHidden=0 AND pageTreePosition LIKE '000-004%' AND pageDepth >=1 AND pageDepth<=2 ORDER BY pageTreePosition ASC
1782550639.39620.002 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1782550639.39670.0005 [2] SELECT pageID FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition DESC
1782550639.39850.0017 [29] Using template: /templates/navigation/footer-nav.html
1782550639.40050.002 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/make-a-difference' OR pageSortPath='/make-a-difference' LIMIT 1
1782550639.4010.0006 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition='000-005' LIMIT 1
1782550639.40150.0005 [11] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageNew=0 AND pageHidden=0 AND pageTreePosition LIKE '000-005%' AND pageDepth >=1 AND pageDepth<=2 ORDER BY pageTreePosition ASC
1782550639.40350.002 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1782550639.40410.0006 [2] SELECT pageID FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition DESC
1782550639.40580.0017 [10] Using template: /templates/navigation/footer-nav.html
1782550639.4070.0012Request time: 0.2382
1782550639.4070Process time: 0.2381
1782550639.4070Memory: 1.6319