Environmental Statement

At Wedderburn, we have an active strategy to minimise waste, reduce CO2 emissions and maximise our positive contribution to the local environment. Managing our business and your experience in a sustainable way is not an aspiration for 2030; we’re doing it now.

The Natural Environment
This is what you notice first. Wedderburn is an oasis of wildlife. Depending on the season you may see hares, roe deer, brown and barn owls, buzzards, pheasants, pigeon, woodcock, partridges, egret, herons and rabbits, other ground and tree-nesting birds, plus the swallows and swifts that nest on the buildings and the bats and honey bees that live in the turrets. None of this happens by accident; we opt to maintain wild areas to advantage wildflowers and insects, we have planted belts of woodland (where the badgers have moved in) and we maintain many acres of old-growth pasture that is not cut until after the nesting season.

Energy
Wedderburn Castle is 20 times the volume of a modern family home. To reduce our carbon emissions as close to zero as possible, in 2018 we completed a large Ground Source heating system. This turns 1Kw of electricity into about 3.5kW of heat, delivering all of the castle’s central heating and hot water. From March 2023 we entered a long-term contract for 100% renewable energy and in August 2023 we installed a 66kWp solar array that is expected to generate about 50% of our total annual energy demand. This investment has cut the castle’s carbon footprint by 97%, from well over 100t/year to roughly 1.3t/year. Our energy efficiency, combined with extensive tree planting, means the business as a whole is a carbon sink.

Resources
We maintain a strict programme of materials recycling where possible and responsible disposal when not. You’ll find labelled sorting bins to make recycling easy, and we suggest considering the exclusion of single-use or non-recyclable materials from your party plans. Great parties can easily be environmentally conscious. When maintaining buildings we used salvaged or up-cycled materials whenever possible.

Transport
As the majority of our guests drive to us, we have installed two 11kW EV charge points at the Barns. If demand emerges, plans are in place to install additional charge points at the castle and cottages. We will keep this page updated with any charge-point developments. We are located a short taxi ride from Berwick-upon-Tweed railway station for those who wish to avoid travelling long distances by car.

The Future
We have earmarked a further 5 acres for planting new woodland. Trees are worth the hype; if allowed to reach full size a beech or oak tree can easily reach 20 tonnes, locking up at least 32,000Kg CO2. That’s about 32 return flights to NY, or 165,000 miles in a car emitting 120g/Km. Dedicating land to trees is a long-term legacy that we actively invest in.

Wedderburn is an exceptional venue for anniversaries, house parties, re-unions and all kinds of events and celebrations.