A stretch of Lincolnshire coastline that was once occupied by a golf course has been transformed into a new nature reserve, with wetlands, grassland and coastal scrub now replacing much of its manicured landscape. Sandilands, near Sutton-on-Sea and Mablethorpe, was acquired by the National Trust in March 2020 after the golf club went into liquidation in 2018. Six years of planning, consultation and habitat creation later, the site has officially opened as a 30-hectare coastal nature reserve. The restored landscape now provides a mixture of shallow pools, wading areas and newly established habitats designed to support both resident wildlife and migratory birds along the Lincolnshire coast. The transformation has also opened the former private golf landscape to the wider public, with new paths and accessible facilities allowing visitors to experience the changing coastal habitat.
From golf fairways to coastal wetlands
The National Trust says the reserve covers 30 hectares, equivalent to around 42 football pitches, and forms part of the wider Lincolnshire Coastal Country Park. It occupies a 2-km stretch of coastline and now contains a mosaic of wetlands, reedbeds, wildflower-rich grassland and coastal habitats. The Trust says the restored landscape is intended to provide habitat for breeding birds as well as a stopover for migratory species travelling along Britain’s east coast.The site has a much longer history with golf than its 2018 closure might suggest. The National Trust says the land had been used as a golf course since 1894, although Sandilands Golf Club itself was formed in 1952. The club entered liquidation in 2018 after financial difficulties, bringing an end to its use as a private golf course. The National Trust acquired the coastal land in March 2020 with support from a donor and its Neptune Coastline Campaign. It was the organisation’s first coastal land acquisition in Lincolnshire. The restoration was then carried out as a six-year programme of planning, consultation and habitat creation.
Birds arrived before the project was finished
One of the most striking signs of the transformation has been the speed at which birds have begun using the newly created habitats. According to the National Trust, avocets and oystercatchers successfully nested and bred at Sandilands in 2026, while little ringed plover chicks were recorded at the site for the second consecutive year. The Guardian reported that little ringed plovers and avocets nested during the summer after former fairways and bunkers were reshaped into shallow pools and islands suitable for shore and marsh birds. Marsh harriers have also been seen hunting over the reserve, while water rails, sandwich terns and spotted redshanks have been recorded at the site. The reserve is also expected to provide habitat for lapwings, snipe, terns and gulls, as well as migratory species including black-tailed godwits, spotted redshanks and spoonbills. The National Trust describes the area as part of the internationally important East Coast Flyway, through which thousands of birds travel between breeding grounds in the Arctic and northern Europe and wintering areas farther south.
A landscape deliberately reshaped for wildlife
Creating the wetlands required major earthworks. Nearly 52,000 cubic metres of earth were moved to create the new habitats, a volume the National Trust compares with 21 Olympic swimming pools. Green hay from a nearby Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust reserve was also spread across the site to help establish species-rich grassland containing plants such as wild carrot, yarrow, yellow rattle and red clover.The restoration has also involved extensive planting of native coastal vegetation. The National Trust’s September 2026 press release says more than 35,000 native coastal shrubs, including sea buckthorn, gorse, goat willow and blackthorn, have been planted. However, the Trust’s current project page separately reports more than 6,500 native scrub plants planted with the help of more than 200 volunteers. Because the two current National Trust sources give different totals, the planting figure is best treated cautiously rather than presenting the two numbers as interchangeable. The project has also changed the way the land is managed. The Guardian reported that areas of grass have been left unmown, allowing additional plant species to emerge, while volunteers have been helping control plants such as ragwort and thistles during the early stages of the habitat’s development.
A new public space on the Lincolnshire coast
Sandilands was once accessible primarily to golf-club members. It is now open to the wider public, with new paths, boardwalks and accessible facilities running through the reserve. A visitor welcome building includes a café and community space. The project has also involved local residents and volunteers. The Guardian reported that around 50 people were already volunteering at the reserve when it visited in September, while the National Trust says more than 200 volunteers have helped with scrub planting.The restoration is part of the much larger Lincolnshire Coastal Country Park, which the National Trust says covers around 3,500 hectares and includes a five-mile stretch of coastline. Sandilands adds another area of wetlands and coastal habitat to that wider network. There are further plans for the reserve as its habitats develop. The National Trust says Highland ponies will be introduced for conservation grazing, while the Guardian reported that the Trust hopes to reintroduce natterjack toads once the pond habitats are suitable. The transformation does not mean the landscape is considered finished. The National Trust says its focus will now shift towards managing the habitats, monitoring wildlife and adapting conservation work as the reserve develops. For a site that was still a golf course less than a decade ago, the arrival of breeding wetland birds marks an early indication of how quickly a heavily managed landscape can begin to support a very different range of wildlife.
