The estate manages 8500 acres in a large block, running up towards Gayton near King's Lynn.
A walking map is also available.
The website provides details on their activity.
Henry Birkbeck - used the estate for shooting and with farming and agriculture over one hundred years ago. Alex Birkbeck showed the presenters around the estate. He is the estate Manager. He took over when he was about thirty.
The main house was sold off (to Anthony Gormley) in 2010.
Rewilding efforts are taking place in the wet woodland areas of the estate. The drought affected this activity. There are lots of ponds on the estate (over 250) which help with water management and the biodiversity of the estate, particularly invertrebrates and amphibians.
Plants are left to grow on the south side of the pond to create shade for the pond during the summer months.
The estate runs a permanent glamping and festival site within the woods near the village of West Acre.
I have visited that in the past for a birthday party and it's a great venue with fire pit, and space for food and also music.
The estate runs a pub in West Acre called The Stag.
Eggs are also produced on the estate - the wild eggs mentioned on the website. Poultry are kept, and free range turkeys and outdoor geese, along with some pigs. These are run by tenants, who hire the land off the estate. This is a good way of increasing activity without additional cost.
Straw is given free of charge to the tenants, which then comes back to the estate as manure and is put onto the arable fields. A bale of straw can cost £40-50. There are limits to how much chicken manure can be put on the fields to avoid eutrophification through high nitrogen levels in the manure. This is then used on fields where oil seed rape has been drilled for the following year. This saves on purchasing fertiliser, the price of which has gone up. There is also the rent from the tenants to add an income.
The Estate has a range of tenants who run a variety of businesses. They include bike hire, and some self catering accommodation.
There is also a brewery - Duration. This is one of my favourite breweries and they have a great range of beers, plus a tap room and sales counter. On a hot day, sitting outside the old barn with a cold beer is very pleasant.
Waste grain from the brewing process is collected and used to feed wagyu beef cattle and pigs at local farms.
The cows are subsequently turned into meat, some of which is then sold as an ingredient in the pies at the brewery's events. This helps to create a more 'circular' flow of resources.
Beer is sold to local pubs - about 60% stays in county, but I have found it in London and further afield in cans.
The brewery puts on events most weekends in the summer, with food trucks providing additional food without the brewery needing their own kitchen.
The owners try to position it as a destination brewery. It has to draw people to it as it is in a rural area.
Blueberries were described as the 'biggest gamble'. A field was planted six years ago.
Only 8% of the blueberries eaten in the UK are grown here. The estate has invested in an autonomous, solar powered harvester. Properties were sold off to pay for this. The blueberries are put into a gin made locally too, by WhataHoot distillery.
The machine costs two years' worth of labour costs, but these are the biggest cost and will increase over time. It cost over £200 000.
They also grow chick peas.
The estate has two reservoirs... they are apparently down to 5% capacity.
They also have polytunnels to rear trees from local seeds for rewilding.
"It decreases the carbon footprint, prevents non-native invasion, provides certified healthy trees and promotes the maintenance and restoration of native woodlands."
The ownership of the land on the estate has been explored on the Who owns Norfolk website.
This also mentions Olly Birkbeck, who owns the 2,300 acre Little Massingham Estate, just a short 10 minute drive from West Acre.
There is plenty more information on this part of Norfolk on the site.
To explore the estate why not walk the West Acre Way, developed for the Queen's Platinum Jubilee.
The GCSE Natural History will probably ask for a study of an area to look at rewilding and sustainability efforts, and there are some good elements of that in this area.
They also organise occasional walks and visits to the estate. Keep an eye out for those if you are in the local area.
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