Rare-breed horses help clear woodland at Oxburgh Estate

An Ardennes Comtois was one of the horses used to clear the woodland

Two rare-breed horses have dragged pine logs clear of a plantation so a wider variety of trees can be planted at a National Trust estate.

The animals cause less damage than heavy logging machinery, the Oxburgh Estate in Norfolk said.

Suffolk Punch and Ardennes Comtois horses were brought in for the task.

Native trees, including hazel and oak, will be planted. The estate's Tom Day said the work would "double down on our parkland conservation efforts".

One of the breeds used by the estate was a Suffolk, also historically known as the Suffolk Punch.

They are native to the region, and one of only four English breeds of heavy horse bred specifically for ploughing and pulling loads.

The Suffolk Punch is native to the East of England and has been used rather than machinery by the estate

The other breed, the Ardennes Comtois, originally came from the Ardennes region in Belgium, Luxembourg and northern France.

It is hoped the new trees will increase the woodland's resilience to climate change and disease, as well increasing biodiversity.

Mr Day, the National Trust's area ranger for the estate, said: "The area of the pine plantation is severely lacking in biodiversity and contains 50% less wildlife than in the rest of our woodlands."

He said the new trees would "vastly improve the quality of the habitat to attract more species and more diverse wildlife".

The project was part of the National Trust's 10-year sustainable woodland management plan for the region, which will run until 2029 across various locations in East Anglia.