Wakelyn de Hartshill was apparently given this land in Suffolk in the mid 15th century. The surname Wakelyns apparently is of English and Anglo-Saxon origin, primarily meaning “watchman,” “vigilant,” or “descendant of the little, watchful one”. It is derived from the Old English personal name Wacelin (a diminutive of Waca or Wacca), signifying alertness.
The Wakelyns farmhouse dates back to about the 16th century, though it has been extended and modified lots of times since then by its many custodians.
Ann and Martin Wolfe bought the farm in 1992 after Martin’s earlier scientific career had showed how mixing just three varieties of a cereal crop together could restrict disease and stabilise crop yield. Their idea was further to experiment with forms of agriculture by using diversity and reversing the trend to crop monoculture though organic rotation agroforestry. Here’s a lovely interview with Ann and Martin on Radio 4’s On Your Farm programme from 1997 about their early plans at Wakelyns:
Permaculture Magazine explained it all beautifully in 1996 in the article Trees among the Wheat.
Wakelyns in 1992, when Ann & Martin bought the fields – just a wheat crop
Martin and Maria Fink planting some of the original trees in 1994
And so the trees grew….
And they grew…
And they grew! Our oldest agoforestry planting is now over 30 years old making it among the oldest most diverse in Europe
Wakelyns has collaborated with the Organic Research Centre for many years, and in 2004 they produced the leaflet Wakelyns Agroforestry… science for ecological agriculture.
Ann and Martin kept detailed notes on their work at Wakelyns:
- Ann’s Wakelyns Newsletter from 1998
- Ann’s Growing notes
- Ann’s Vegetable planting plans
- Wakelyns in June 2009
More recently, Wakelyns was also featured in The Guardian, explaining agroforestry and telling the story of population wheats and YQ flour:
- The latest cutting edge technology changing our landscapes? Trees – The Guardian, 6 January 2018
- Flour power: Meet the bread heads baking a better loaf – The Guardian, 10 October 2019
There’s lot of archive material of their life and work at Wakelyns elsewhere on this website.
Ann Wolfe died in 2016, Martin Wolfe in 2019. Wakelyns is now owned by their sons David and Toby. David and his wife Amanda Illing have run Wakelyns since 2020.
Since 2020, Amanda and David have continued the organic agroforestry and renewed the collaboration with the ORC and other researchers.
We have undertaken a major programme of renovation and investment in the buildings and other infrastructure at Wakelyns.
The farmhouse is now updated and available as holiday or retreat accommodation.
The farmyard and barns and other buildings have been restored and updated to be available for events and courses as well as NGO retreats.
We now host independent “stacked” enterprises all of which have a connection to the Wakelyns land.
We send out newsletters about once a month – click here to sign up.
In the summer, we welcome volunteers to come and join in the fun.
Here’s the current version of the ORC produced booklet – Resilience Through Diversity – about the ORC-Wakelyns long term collaboration.
The next phase of the Wakelyns story will – we hope – see Wakelyns gradually transferred to community ownership and governance to secure its long-term future as a publicly enjoyed resource: more here.
Get in touch here.
