Enjoy your local nature reserve

Withymead is special: an oasis of riverside wildness; a haven for plants and wildlife; a place where Thames-side boat building once thrived. The 13-acre reserve was established by Anne Carpmael, a keen naturalist who lived at Withymead for nearly 60 years. Anne bequeathed the site as a special place for the community, and to inspire an appreciation of nature especially among young people. It opened in 2004.

Discover Withymead

Help conserve our natural heritage

Withymead is a gem. Which we want to share with you.

We have a volunteer team who help with conservation and events, and new volunteers with general or specialist skills are always welcome.

What unites everyone who visits Withymead is their deep and profound connection with this special place by the Thames.

Volunteer with us

We are now closed until early April 2025

Thank you to everyone who visited us during the summer months. We have loved welcoming you! We are now closed for the winter season. Work on the reserve and behind the scenes never stops. Excitingly this means we can progress a big new project on site as well as continue our regular conservation tasks. More news coming very soon!

Visits can still be made out of season, by appointment only and subject to the availability of our wardens, and volunteers are always welcome. Head over to the contact us page. We open again April/Easter 2025 for spring and summer open days, afternoons and special events, plus exclusive bookable visits.

Entrance to Withymead is free unless it is for commercial hire. Please consider donating to support our conservation work.

Find out more

Spotlights and updates

30th September 2024

News update | New welcome shelter begins ‘Improvements to Access’ project

There’s always lots going on at Withymead, even when we are closed for autumn and winter. Almost immediately after we served our last cream tea on Sunday 25 August we embarked on an exciting phase in the reserve’s history when we completed the first stage of our ‘Improvements to Access’ project. A new wooden welcome shelter has been installed to bring a better-defined starting point for visitors and greater weather protection for volunteers.

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28th March 2024

Spotlight | The glorious glow worm

Normally when I write these, I stumble upon something intriguing, take some pictures, go researching and write something up. It’s not much, but it’s honest work.

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25th August 2024

Events | 25 August 2pm – 5pm Cream Tea Sunday

Enjoy the reserve and nature at its very best 10am-5pm. Round off your visit with delicious homemade cream teas, cakes and refreshments served 2pm-5pm in the Study Centre and Oak Grove at our last Cream Tea Sunday for the season. Entry is free, donations welcome.

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