Prince William visits Wistmans Wood - home of the 'hellhounds!'

Prince William has visited Wistman’s Wood on Dartmoor, an ancient woodland on Duchy of Cornwall land

The Duchy of Cornwall, in partnership with local tenant farmers and Natural England, have announced its plans to naturally regenerate and expand the famous woodland to ensure the habitat will thrive for generations to come

The delivery of this plan forms part of the Duchy’s wider work on nature enhancement and net zero and includes doubling the woodland's size by 2040.

The Duchy of Cornwall has been working with its agricultural tenants, Natural England and consulting with the Dartmoor National Park Authority for over two years, to develop a landscape scale plan to expand Wistman’s Wood to bring about its increased resilience.

Wistman’s Wood is an ancient oak woodland which covers over three hectares of the West Dart Valley on Dartmoor. It is a National Nature Reserve, a Site of Special Scientific Interest and a Special Area of Conservation in recognition of its significance for nature conservation. It is often referred to as one of the South West’s last remaining examples of temperate rainforest.

The wood lies in the valley of the West Dart River near Two Bridges. It has been mentioned in writing for hundreds of years. It is likely to be a left-over from the ancient forest that covered much of Dartmoor in about 7000 BCE, before Mesolithic hunter/gatherers cleared it around 5000 BCE.

 
The wood has been the inspiration for numerous artists, poets, and photographers. It appears in hundreds of 19th-century accounts.

The name of Wistman's Wood may derive from the dialect word "wisht", meaning "eerie/uncanny"or "pixie-led/haunted".

The legendary Wild Hunt in Devon, whose hellhounds are known as Yeth or Wisht Hounds in the Devonshire dialect, is particularly associated with Wistman's Wood.

The Duchy's regeneration and expansion plans are part of The Duchy of Cornwall’s vision of Sustainable Stewardship – for Communities, Enterprise and Nature. The Estate has been and will continue to work to achieve its sustainability goal of a net zero and nature rich Estate with farming playing an instrumental role in the delivery, driven forward by Prince William.

 Other sustainability projects on Dartmoor include a Curlew Recovery Project; a conservation initiative to protect and enhance the number of Curlew on Dartmoor; and the Hay Meadow Restoration Project, where the Duchy is recreating flower rich, traditional hay meadow grassland. In addition, the Duchy is working in partnership with the South West Peatland Partnership to help deliver 800 hectares of peatland restoration which has multiple benefits for carbon storage, biodiversity, water quality and flow.

Prince William’s visit to South West Duchy land also included opening The Duchy of Cornwall Nursery’s new restaurant, The Orangery, based near Lostwithiel, Cornwall. The Orangery opening follows refurbishment at the Nursery and a brand-new extension, designed to create spaces that can offer sustainable and inspirational visitor experiences.