About Us
Having spent a decade supporting indigenous teachers to share their wisdom from our family home in Waldron, I spent several years looking for a site which would allow us to enrich the offering, particularly allowing for a deeper connection level of nature connection. Wickenden Farm provides an ideal place in which to do this.
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Wickenden Farm
North Star Centre has its home at Wickenden Farm, an 80 acre mixed habitat small holding in East Sussex. Wickenden, the ancient Saxon word for rowan tree, retains the pioneer energy of the species it is named after. This rowan are among the first to take root in inhospitable terrain, creating more fertile ground for the species that come after it. At a time of unprecedented challenge and uncertainty, all we are creating at Wickenden draws on the spirit of the rowan, creating new possibilities for life to flourish. It offers a beacon of light and love, demonstrating that we have the power to create other possibilities.
The Team
Penny Jerram
Vision Holder
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Sharon Smith
Vegan Chef
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Nicole Cresswell
Site Manager
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Renovation Team
Nicola Furner
Architect
Sustainability expert architect, Nicola creates beautiful, naturally harmonious buildings. For Wickenden Farm she has also drawn on Trauma Informed Design principles to create inherently healing spaces.
Emma Taylor
Design Consultant
With a PhD in environmental science Emma is committed to sustainability in property renovation and sourcing
Erica Mallory Blythe
EMF expert
Global expert in the impact of electro-magnetic radiation on the human body.
Advising on how to create a low EMF and VOC environment to support deep restoration for mind and body.
Our Partners
We are honoured to be working with amazing people and organisations, aligned to the vision of creating a more loving, harmonious and regenerative world. These partners have been woven into all aspects of the renovation of the site from the outset to create an environment that expresses our core values of care for all.
Kind Supplies
Sustainable building supplies
Wildflower Lawns and Meadows
Ecologists
Land management plan for increased biodiversity
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Stylecourt builders - Creating a complex of buildings which have minimal dependency on the grid and are as regenerative in their needs as possible
Gartenart - Wild swimming ponds
Creation of large wild swimming pond to create new wildlife habitat
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Local Area
Situated in the Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty of the Ashdown Forest, Wickenden Farm is blessed to be surrounded by beautiful and inspirational places and organisations.
Ashdown Forest
7000 acres of ancient woodland and heathland it is one of the few free to roam places in the UK
Weir Wood Reservoir
A 152-hectare site of open water, grassland, woodland and streams in the Ashdown Forest. It is a Site of Special Scientific Interest and a nature reserve for wildlife, with many different habitats and species. You can fish, sail, walk, cycle or birdwatch at the eastern end of the lake.
Wakehurst Place
Partner of Kew Gardens, Wakehurst Place is home to the Millenium Seed Bank
Plawhatch Farm
Less than 2 miles along the road, Plawhatch Farm is a much loved biodynamic cooperatively owned and run biodynamic farm. With its own dairy herd selling raw milk products alongside veg and other organic produce. It also has a trailer coffee barn selling fabulous coffee
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Emerson College & Michael Hall School
The centre of Steiner teacher training and anthroposophical teachings in the UK, along with the oldest Steiner school in the country are both based in Forest Row