Painting a Wilder Cornwall: Art, Rewilding and the Changing Landscape
What does a landscape look like when we give nature a little more freedom?
It’s a question that artist Rebecca Howard has been exploring through a fascinating new series of paintings created at rewilding projects across England – including a site here in Cornwall, not far from Helsbury Park. Over the past two years, Rebecca has visited pioneering rewilding projects, painting the landscapes as they change. Rather than concentrating on the traditionally ‘pretty’ side of the countryside, her work celebrates the things that can initially look untidy: fallen trees, scrub, deadwood, wetlands and areas where nature is beginning to reclaim the land.
One of the locations that inspired her is Cabilla, an ancient oak woodland in Cornwall which is being restored as a temperate rainforest. Her paintings form part of an exhibition called A Year in the Wild, which explores nine different rewilding sites and the positive changes taking place within them.
Why rewilding matters
Rewilding isn’t simply about letting a piece of land become overgrown. Done thoughtfully, it can help restore natural processes and create a greater variety of habitats for wildlife. Which is what we are achieving here at Helsbury. Trees can be allowed to fall and provide deadwood for insects and fungi. Wet areas can be restored, creating habitats for birds and amphibians. Native plants can return, while natural grazing and browsing can help create a constantly changing patchwork of habitats.
The result can be a landscape that is richer in biodiversity and more resilient, while also offering people the opportunity to experience nature in a more natural state. That’s something particularly close to home for us at Helsbury Park, where rewilding is an important part of the way we look after our own landscape.
Seeing Cornwall differently
One of the fascinating things about Rebecca’s work is that it encourages us to look differently at the countryside around us. A fallen tree isn’t necessarily something that needs clearing away. A patch of scrub isn’t necessarily untidy. A wet meadow isn’t wasted land. They can all be signs of a landscape changing – and becoming more alive.
If you’re staying at Helsbury Park, you’ll have plenty of opportunities to see this process for yourself. Take a walk, slow down and look at what’s happening around you. You might notice more than you would on a conventional country walk. And if you’re interested in seeing Rebecca’s interpretation of these changing landscapes, A Year in the Wild is on exhibition at Knepp in West Sussex until 18 October 2026, with the possibility of the exhibition touring elsewhere in the UK afterwards.
For us, it’s a lovely reminder that Cornwall’s landscape isn’t something fixed and unchanging. It’s alive, it’s evolving – and we’re privileged to be part of its story.
Read more about Rebecca Howard’s A Year in the Wild exhibition