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The Best of Both Worlds

The Riseholme estate is based just a few miles north of the centre of Lincoln, and comprises a total of 200 hectares of farmland, lake, landscaped gardens and mixed woodland. This diversity of habitats supports a great variety of life, including rare species of dragonfly and butterfly and over 60 species of birds and wild mammals. These natural resources are an invaluable resource for teaching.

Riseholme Park has a long history stretching back hundreds of years. Read about Riseholme Park's history here

For students studying at Riseholme College, there is a range of modern learning facilities available, full details of which are provided further down the page or please book onto an open day to find out more.

Farm Facilities

Riseholme College has its own agricultural facilities which provide access to real life industry experience for students on land based courses.

Riseholme Park Farms Ltd operates as a wholly owned subsidiary of the University of Lincoln and farms 369 hectares of the 415 hectare estate owned by the University. The remaining area is used to provide practical opportunities for a variety of courses based at Riseholme College.

The farms are situated on two sites: an arable farm in Nettleham and a 166 hectare livestock enterprise at Riseholme Park.

Lodge Farm consists of 203 hectares of which 198 hectares are cropped. The farm is situated immediately to the south of Nettleham between the village and the A158 Lincoln to Wragby Road. The yard and buildings are in the centre of the holding and the farm is ideally supported by internal roads. The soils next to the farmyard are primarily of the Elmton 1 series, being free draining and relatively easily worked, but not particularly moisture retentive. The remainder comprises Beccles 1, which at the western side of the holding in particular gives rise to some patches of heavy soil, which can be difficult to work in either very dry or wet conditions. Lodge Farm is totally arable and grows winter wheat, winter barley, winter OSR and sugar beet, currently under a contract farming agreement with a neighbouring estate with access at all times for academic and research purposes.

Each year students have one field available at Riseholme in order to be able to grow their ‘own’ crop. This will be a crop that is grown as part of the normal farm rotation, but all planning, decision making and fieldwork, apart from pesticide applications, will be carried out by students using university equipment.

Sheep Enterprise

The sheep flock consists of 256 females and 5 rams. The females are all pedigree Lleyn animals, and around 70 of them are used as a breeding nucleus by mating with 2 pedigree Lleyn rams to produce flock replacements. The remainder of the flock is mated with a Beltex, Texel or Rouge Ram which are used as terminal sires to produce fat lambs. Lambing, which takes place indoors between mid February and March, is timed to coincide with academic requirements, and students taking agriculture and animal science courses are heavily involved in the operation. The sheep are able to utilise most of the grassland on the farm for grazing and in addition also graze equine paddocks and countryside stewardship grass at appropriate times of the year.

Beef Enterprise

A pedigree herd of 30 Lincoln Red suckler cows was established in 2004. The herd’s first placement bull was purchased during 2008 and calves continue to be reared as specialist beef or as breeding stock. Cows calve in the spring, graze with calves at foot during the summer and are housed and fed on silage indoors in the winter. As well as the Lincoln Red Bull, cross-bred continental beef calves are being brought in to be fattened in yards as a conventional beef enterprise.

Riseholme also has a demonstration pig unit. 

Machinery Workshop

Riseholme also benefits from a well equipped machinery workshop, a welding shop, and a wide range of modern tractors and farm machinery. A one-hectare area is provided each year for students to utilise for tractor and machinery use at times when other areas of the estate are not available.

Grassland

The grassland areas of Riseholme are managed in a number of different ways. 7 hectares on the mediaeval village site are in a Countryside Stewardship Scheme and receive no chemical or fertiliser treatments. Equine paddocks receive some fertiliser in mid-late spring to maintain grass growth through the summer and receive herbicide treatments when necessary. These paddocks will also be reseeded when necessary with specific equine grass mixtures. 40 hectares of grazing utilised by the beef and sheep enterprises receive more intense herbicide and fertiliser policies as they are used for the production of hay or silage in addition to grazing. These fields are sown with hybrid ryegrass leys designed to last for 3-5 years and are reseeded on a regular basis to ensure maximum forage quality and quantity.

Riseholme has two areas of set aside both of which are sown with grass cover crops. They are topped in July and grazed in winter by sheep or horses.

A number of game cover crops totalling 1.3 hectares are grown at Riseholme, sponsored by a local seed company and are used to support a countryside management course.

Animal Unit

The modern, purpose built Rural Science Centre, which houses the small animal unit, provides our students with the opportunity to work with a wide variety of familiar and exotic species, including cats, dogs, rabbits, chipmunks, chinchillas, marmosets, reptiles, tropical and temperate fish, insects, spiders and molluscs. None of our animals are involved in invasive research.

Equine and Riding Facilities

The equine unit was opened in 2002, and has modern, clean facilities, ensuring a high standard of welfare for the horses. The equine unit provides stabling, riding, training and rehabilitation facilities. We have two identical American style barns, a DIY yard for the students, two outdoor schools, one indoor school, a demonstration hall and plenty of land for the horses to graze on.

Riseholme is also home to the Lindon Cleveland Bay Stud and its associated facilities, including a dummy mare for semen collection, a teasing board and video cameras in foaling boxes. We pride ourselves in breeding top class Cleveland Bay horses both pure bred and part bred.

Visit our equestrian centre website for more information

Horticulture Facilities

Riseholme has a large number of glasshouses and allotment space.

An area of willow and poplar provide students with experience in the harvesting, handling, manufacturing and marketing products made from this topical crop.

Riseholme Park Farms participates in a Countryside Stewardship Scheme replanting trees and hedges, laying overgrown hedges, managing areas of grassland and establishing grass margins alongside watercourses. The scheme was drawn up by the Farming and Wildlife Advisory Group (FWAG).

Students are actively involved in the planting schemes, which cover both the Lodge Farm and Riseholme parts of the estate, with every effort being made to conserve and enhance natural habitats in the countryside.

Library and Resource Centre

Riseholme Learning Resource Centre contains a broad range of materials and facilities to support you in your studies, including books and journals relating to courses taught at the campus, general periodicals, videos, daily newspapers, and a selection of popular fiction books. There is a fully networked open access computer suite and a range of study spaces to cater for individual quiet study and group work. The Centre also provides the facilities for photocopying and printing. The friendly and helpful staff offer presentations, workshops, and tours to new students; they are available throughout the year to assist with any queries you may have in relation to your studies.

Sports and Leisure Facilities

There are football and hockey pitches at Riseholme, as well as a floodlit all-weather playing surface. Riseholme students also have access to the leisure facilities at the University of Lincoln Brayford campus, which includes a sports centre. Students keen on angling have the opportunity to fish the lake.

The University of Lincoln Student Union Co-operative (ULSUC) runs a bar at Riseholme. By day the bar area acts as a meeting place and a chance to relax, offering pool table, games machines and vending facilities. It also has a television and music jukebox.

There is also a shop on campus, and a cash machine.

Car Parking

Student car parks are provided at Riseholme. For security reasons, a permit is required and can be applied for following enrolment. Parking is subject to availability on a daily basis.

Accommodation

There is catered accommodation available on the Riseholme campus for students, and due to the nature of the programmes, many students choose to be residential. Accommodation is normally allocated first to students who live beyond a 15 mile radius of Riseholme.

Financial support may be available to assist in the payment of residential fees for full-time further education students who wish to live in campus accommodation. Applications should be made to the College before the start of the academic year. Bursaries are allocated following a financial assessment process.

We take the care and safeguarding of our students seriously. We work to the national care standards, to safeguard and promote the welfare of young people under 18 who reside on campus. We have a team of housekeeping and warden staff on a 24 hour, 7 days a week basis. Students who are under the age of 18, and reside on campus, are expected to abide by a specific set of rules, which is available from the Accommodation Office on request. Although monitoring arrangements are in place at the College, it should also be recognised that a degree of maturity is required from the student to make a success of residential accommodation.

For full details of the availability of accommodation, and information relating to residential fees at Riseholme, please contact the Riseholme accommodation office on 01522 895270

Further details can be found on the Accommodation Office website.