Rose ceremony at Wittenham Clumps

A rose will be presented by the Chair of Oxfordshire County Council to the Earth Trust on 3 July in honour of an historic agreement allowing public access to Wittenham Clumps and Little Wittenham Nature Reserve.

Since February 1970, the ‘Wittenham Rose’ has been presented as a peppercorn rent to landowners at Little Wittenham. It is a symbolic gesture which allows ongoing access for the general public to the woods, pastureland and round hills of the reserve.

When the agreement was drawn up in 1970 the area was still in Berkshire. Since 1974 Oxfordshire County Council has presented the rose.

Increasing access to the countryside

Councillor Alison Rooke, Chair of Oxfordshire County Council said: “This ceremony is a long standing tradition that the county council is delighted to honour. Public access to the countryside is an important issue for both the county council and the Earth Trust, so the rose ceremony is an important annual event in our calendars. It is a mid-summer Oxfordshire fixture and part of the fabric of our wonderful county.”

Cllr Rooke will return to the nature reserve on 11 July to plant the rose.

The Earth Trust and Wittenham Clumps

Since 1982 the Earth Trust has managed the area around Wittenham Clumps and the surrounding farmland, grassland and woodlands. The area is designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest and a Special Area of Conservation, because of its grassland and significant population of great crested newts.