A special place in the heart of our community could be lost to inappropriate development.
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Make a pledge 〰️
Land at Brown’s Piece is for sale
4.5 beautiful hectares (11 acres) in Wotton-under-Edge, a market town on the southern edge of the Cotswolds.
Land at Brown’s Piece, or Hack Hill as it is known locally, has 3 levels running from fields next to a primary school field, into a steep, wooded, terraced slope, and down to a plateau next to the stream that flows through Wotton.
Stretching from the Cotswold countryside into the heart of the town, Brown's Piece provides a 'green gateway' accessible from the town centre.
Over the past decades, land at Brown's Piece has become a nature-rich mosaic of meadow, trees, and developing scrub.
This provides both a haven for local wildlife - including a source of insects for our famous swift population - and a place to journey through on the way to school or the shops, or just a stroll. It also has a rich history, with parts remembered as a former mill, a lido, pastoral land and a scrapyard.
Please help us save Brown’s Piece and pledge now.
We know there is a private individual who is trying to buy the land to build a large private home.
But it’s under threat. Benign neglect is in danger of becoming neglect and misuse.
Japanese knotweed and Himalayan balsam are spreading. Of the three footpaths, one has become so overgrown that it is no longer visible, and another gets so muddy that many people cannot use it.
We now hear stories of loss and concern: "I used to play in the meadow at the end; I can't even see it now because of the brambles", "Is it going to be bought by a developer?", "Could more so-called affordable housing be built here?", "It's a mess; the footpaths need tidying and a willow branch has fallen onto the path again", "We've got to keep it natural". Brown's Piece is now for sale on the open market, anyone could buy it.
Hack Hill 1971 showing the original path to the top, with Hack Mill in the foreground.
Make a pledge
〰️
Make a pledge 〰️
We have formed a community group to buy the land and get people from all parts of the community involved in looking after it for climate, nature, and local benefit. We want to keep it nature-rich and reclaim it for everyone who lives, works or visits here.