Our Story so far
Our story began in 2022, when 124 acres of farmland on the edge of Totnes came up for sale. The land, named after the Grade II listed ‘Bowden Pillars’ which date to the 17th century, was once wooded and wild.
Could this land become a living example of how humans and earth can thrive together?
Could we restore its wild heart, feed its soil, and in doing so, create a place that responds to the climate, housing, social and food crises in a way that is both humble, realistic and hopeful?
Out of that vision, Bowden Pillars Future — a Charitable Community Benefit Society — took root.
By May 2023, after an incredible community effort, we were able to purchase four of the five farm lots for ~£3 million and form the community benefit charity Bowden Pillars Future. This first monumental moment was made possible by generous loans from individuals who share our belief that this land can help reimagine what “living regeneratively” truly means.
The Wider Story (A Hopeful Response)
This is about more than our community or a single village. It’s about reimagining how we share and use land, and responding to the urgent need to change the way we live in relationship with our environment. We’re working with change-makers and researchers to develop a model that can be replicated elsewhere.
A small group of us — from Bowden House, along with ReSet, Devon Wildlife Trust, the Apricot Centre and beyond — felt the pull of possibility. Inspired by the One Planet Development model, we asked ourselves a simple but powerful question:
Devon Wildlife Trust became a founding partner, taking on a 105-year lease to create a temperate rainforest across 75 acres that sweep down toward Totnes. Once established, this woodland will be open to all — a place for people and wildlife to breathe together again.
Since then, we’ve moved from asking questions to living them. We’ve set out to listen to the land, let it guide our principles and shape our decisions through a regenerative approach and a sociocratic governing framework.
There is growing need for innovation in the planning system and for development drawing on truly regenerative principles—approaches that meet the needs of the land, of people, and of the climate. By supporting Bowden Pillars, you’re
helping demonstrate that a community and a village can become a world-changing, planet-loving, and radically hopeful response to the challenges we face.
Where we are on the journey
Contact Us
Interested to know more? Would like to join the team or support us? Want to share an insight? Please get in touch, we will get back to you shortly.
You can use this form or simply email us:
hello@bowdenpillarsfuture.land