OUR History

 OUR HISTORY

This site has been called ‘the wilderness’ for a thousand years. It dates back to Saxon times when the Forest of Dean, the ancient woodland between the River Severn and the River Wye, was designated royal hunting forest.

Looking from the vantage point of The Wilderness Centre down to the River Severn, you can clearly see the broad curves of the river heading out to the Bristol Channel. Over the course of a day you’ll see the tide ebb and flow - the second highest tidal range in the world - and be able to pick out the villages along the River’s bank that were once thriving Roman ports trading throughout the Mediterranean.

The current house is Georgian, built in the early nineteenth century as a family home. In the early twentieth century the site became a children’s hospital, specialising in infectious diseases. In the 1968 Gloucestershire County Council acquired The Wilderness Centre, turning it into an outdoors education and nature studies centre serving the county’s schools. In private ownership from 2014, in July 2025 Wylderne Ltd, a community benefit society, bought the Wilderness to ensure it continues to serve the community.