Behind the Venue: Elmore Estate’s Wild New Chapter

Elmore has unveiled a new identity for the wider estate alongside plans for a seven-kilometre wildlife enclosure, the introduction of beavers, wild ponies and pigs, new equestrian experiences and a future wellbeing project called Elmore Rise. The wedding venue remains very much part of the story, but it now sits within a much broader idea of what this 750-year-old family estate can be.

And, knowing Elmore, standing still was probably never on the cards.

The Guise family have lived at Elmore since 1262, with the present house dating from 1580. Today, Elmore Court is the celebration side of the estate, with the historic house and gardens joined by The Gillyflower, its sustainably built events space for dinners, dancing and parties for more than 200. 

Current custodian Anselm Guise has led much of Elmore’s recent evolution. His approach is an interesting one because he talks quite openly about the balance involved in keeping a historic estate alive. Restoring land is expensive. So is maintaining a centuries-old house. Weddings, hospitality, farming and the newer nature experiences all have to support one another if the estate is to work in the long term.

As Anselm puts it: “As the current custodian of the estate, I feel a huge responsibility for what happens to this precious land. Ultimately, everything we do at Elmore has to be about leaving it in a better state for generations to come. But protecting and restoring nature cannot sit apart from making the estate work economically. We are constantly working to find this balance.”

The rewilding project began in 2020 and now covers around 450 acres of the estate. Chemicals, fertilisers and intensive mechanisation have been removed from those areas, giving soils, wetlands and wildlife the chance to recover. Longhorn cattle already roam the land, alongside deer and a growing population of birds, mammals, reptiles and insects.

The next phase is difficult to miss: seven kilometres of enclosure will create a new habitat for beavers, with wild ponies and pigs also due to join the landscape.

The animals have been chosen for the role they can play in restoring the land. Beavers reshape waterways and wetlands; grazing animals disturb vegetation and create different habitats. Over time, those processes can make room for an increasingly varied mix of species.

It is also an idea with Elmore written all over it. Anselm spent part of his childhood in Africa and has spoken about how safari and wilder landscapes influenced his approach to the Gloucestershire estate. The new plans take that influence further, with more horses also paving the way for Gaucho-inspired equestrian experiences.

This is still rural Gloucestershire; just with rather more beavers.

Elmore Wild sits alongside Elmore Court and includes the six treehouses, wild swimming, sauna sessions, woodland and wetland trails and ranger-led experiences. The new website brings those previously separate strands together much more clearly, presenting Elmore as an estate where hospitality, farming and nature recovery increasingly overlap.

For wedding guests, that opens up another interesting possibility. A stay at Elmore can extend beyond the house and the wedding itself, particularly for those sleeping in the treehouses or staying on the estate around the celebration.

And the connection between land and hospitality isn’t limited to the view. Elmore is growing regenerative flour for bread, expanding its pasture-fed Longhorn herd and producing fruit and vegetables through the kitchen garden. Individually, they are relatively simple things, yet together, they start to explain what Elmore means when it talks about the land becoming part of the guest experience.

Due to open within the next two years, Elmore Rise is being developed as a place for wellbeing, learning and retreat. Plans include a new alcohol-free ceremonial space, with future programmes expected to draw on nature, contemplation and the estate’s growing interest in health and wellbeing.

Anselm describes it as a place for “learning, talking, contemplation and above all joy”, where guests will be able to stay on the land and take part in a changing programme of activities.

There are inevitably a few question marks around this part of the project because it is still taking shape, but what is clear is the direction. The same land that hosts weddings, farming and rewilding will also become somewhere people can come specifically to spend time outside, learn and switch off.

We’ll be watching this one closely.

Importantly, Elmore Court isn’t disappearing into a cloud of beavers, breathwork and regenerative wheat; weddings remain a significant part of the estate. 

Couples still have exclusive use of the house, gardens and Gillyflower, with ceremonies possible in the Great Hall, outdoors or at the nearby church. There are 16 bedrooms in the main house, the Coach House is available for the night before and morning of the wedding, and The Gillyflower remains the place for dinner and dancing.

What is changing is the wider experience around the wedding.

Choosing Elmore increasingly means choosing an estate where hundreds of acres are being restored at the same time as people are celebrating on them. Your guests might stay in a treehouse above the wetlands, swim outside the following morning or eat ingredients grown on the estate. In time, they may be sharing the landscape with beavers, ponies and pigs.
For couples who want the place they choose to reflect their own environmental values, that is pretty significant. It also makes Elmore harder to categorise neatly as simply a “country-house wedding venue”.