Soil and Climate

The soil is a heavy clay loam on the acid side of neutral which is quite fertile, but in which it is sometimes difficult to establish young plants. The underlying rocks are culm measures of Carboniferous age locally called ‘shillet’.

The dominant influence on the climate is the prevailing south-west air stream which tends to be warm and wet. However, Exeter is in the rain shadow caused by Dartmoor and the mean annual rainfall is only a little over 30 inches per year. The estate is approximately 300 feet above sea level and therefore significantly colder than areas a few miles away on the coast. Temperatures during recent years have reached their lowest in January, with the coldest grass level temperature recorded at -12.6 degrees celsius. In February, the average highest daytime temperature has been 6.5 degrees celcius. This has enabled grass to grow throughout most of the year.