The Wilderness Centre. Residential, Environmental & Outdoor Education

It is exactly three hundred years since Duncombe Colchester started work in 1704 building the main house that we now see at the Wilderness, and yet as if right on cue the last six months have seen two new developments that will hopefully still be hear in three hundred years time.

In February the refurbishment of the semi-derelict farm cottage into an ECO-HOUSE. Funding was provided by the SRB6 Scheme for the main building work and the Energy Saving Trust provided matched funding to construct a whole array of photovoltaic solar panel on the south facing roof. At the height of summer these panels will be producing two kilowatt hours of electricity to go back into the grid and reduce the Centre’s bills. Eventually over the next few months it is hoped to complete further work which will enable us to use the buildings to demonstrate the benefits of sustainable technologies in building design and construction. Furthermore the cottage will also be used to provide accommodation for young people working on projects on the site.