Yorkshire estate known as world’s first nature reserve gets Grade II listing

Eccentric Victorian owner of Waterton Park, near Wakefield, made pioneering decisions to protect wildlife

A Yorkshire parkland regarded as the world’s first nature reserve – which was created by an eccentric pioneering 19th-century environmentalist – has been given a Grade II listing.

Historic England said Waterton Park, near Wakefield, was the earliest known example of a landscape designed specifically to attract and protect native wildlife.