The Windsor Estate, jointly with Sandringham Estate in 2022, were awarded the Royal Agricultural Society of England’s Bledisloe Gold Medal, which recognises an outstanding achievement in the successful development and land management of an agricultural estate in England.
Royal Agricultural Society of England & Innovation for Agriculture
The Royal Agricultural Society of England (RASE), which dates back to 1838, is an independent charity dedicated to the application of science and technology to optimise agricultural and food resources to ensure a secure global future. Each September, the charity celebrates its annual Bledisloe Day, which includes a presentation of the RASE Awards.
At an award ceremony, held on Thursday 8 September 2022, four awards were presented, including the Bledisloe Gold Medal which was awarded jointly to Her Majesty The Queen’s Windsor and Sandringham Estates.
First awarded in 1957, the Bledisloe Gold Medal is presented in recognition of a landowner “having done outstanding service in encouraging the application of science and technology to some branch of British husbandry”.
Very sadly, Queen Elizabeth II passed away on the very day that the award was presented and as a result no official announcements were made.
RASE commented at the time: ‘The Royal Family have direct involvement in both Estates, with a particular emphasis on sustainable stewardship. The Estates experience high visitor numbers, with 5 million visitors a year at Windsor alone. Tree and hedge planting have been high priority and there are biomass systems on both Estates. All farmland is organic accredited.’
Commenting on the Bledisloe Gold Medal award, RASE Chairman, Philip Gready, stated: “We are honoured to have been able to make the award to Queen Elizabeth’s Estates and we will forever be indebted for her patronage and support to the Royal Agricultural Society of England and for her service to agriculture and the entire nation.”
Paul Sedgwick, Deputy Ranger at our Windsor Estate added: ‘This award recognises the huge effort put into managing and developing the Windsor Estate in a progressive, yet sustainable way. I was honoured and proud to accept the award, on behalf of The Crown Estate and all of the Windsor team. It recognises publicly the efforts and achievements of so many people over so many years’.
We are hugely proud of this recognition, which has been achieved by the continuing hard work of all our team at Windsor Great Park, a big congratulations to all involved.
Back to News & Articles