Onsite

Scouts

The first Scout camp on the Patshull Estate took place in 1912, with the current location of the campsite formalised in 1946 when Wolverhampton Scouts negotiated a lease with the Earl of Dartmouth. Read the full History here.

Following the Earl’s death in 1958, the lease moved over with The Crown Estate and the Scouts were given notice when the estate was put up for sale.

In 2020, the Mercer family bought the estate and not only approved a new lease, so the Scouts could stay on their historical site, but also gave a financial donation. This meant they could carry out some essential maintenance to the accommodation building, resulting in a new roof, windows, and doors throughout.

With the security of the new lease and added funds, the Group were in a position where they could get back to applying for more funding for the charity. This has enabled the group to renovate the 1800’s lake that surrounds monkey island – involving the removal of around 1000+ tonnes of silt, renovation of a sandstone wall and re-shaping the lake. This renovation means an improved lake for kayaking and other water activities.

The funding and lease have been instrumental in helping the group to improve the range of activities on offer. Developing crate stacking, gladiator challenge, Jacobs ladder and a zip line. All of these are a great encouragement for groups to choose their site and they are also able to now offer these facilities to a wider audience of youth organisations, to not only benefit the Scouts, but other youth-based groups such as; Boys Brigade, Cadets, Guides, Church Groups etc.

“Since the Mercer family became the new owners of the estate in 2020, quite honestly, there has been a real buzz about things! They seem so invested in its development which is evident from the progress over the last 2 years, which far surpasses that which me and our volunteers have seen over the last 50+ years prior to this new ownership.”

We are thrilled that we’ve been able to help support the Scouts, enabling them to stay at a site that has huge historical value to them, but also to help widen that facility to other groups as well. We hope to continue to build on this relationship as well as supporting other charities for the benefit of local communities going forward.