A Cutting-Edge English Initiative Replaces Lawnmowers With Scythes to Restore Wildflowers and Save the Bees

English Heritage has recruited volunteers to mow meadows the old-fashioned way at some of its historic sites

Sonja Anderson | Daily Correspondent

September 21, 2026 1:46 p.m.

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Scything has come quaintly back to the English countryside. The conservation charity English Heritage recently recruited volunteers willing to cut grass in the way of their ancestors—with the Grim Reaper’s blade. They’re now scything through Somerset meadows in exchange for bread and cheese. 

The three-year project aims to maintain English meadows without overly disturbing their natural inhabitants—specifically, the endangered shrill carder bumblebee. 

“If you take mowers in here, there’s a risk that you can hurt them,” English Heritage site manager Ed McGregor tells BBC Radio Somerset.  

According to the Bumblebee Conservation Trust, which is collaborating with English Heritage on the project, the shrill carder bumblebee (Bombus sylvarum) is among the United Kingdom’s rarest and most vulnerable bee species. It lives in only five areas, one of which is the southwestern county of Somerset. 

The volunteer scythers, trained by Somerset’s Exmoor National Park Authority, have begun working in the meadow of the historic Muchelney Abbey. Soon, they’ll be scything grass at English Heritage-managed sites across the county, per a statement from the charity. 

“Scything is a wonderful example of how traditional skills can still have a role in addressing modern challenges,” says volunteer and community engagement manager Ginny Slade in the statement. “We hope to help create the diverse, flower-rich habitats that pollinators need while also preserving knowledge and skills that have shaped our landscapes.”

The scythe is one of agriculture’s pivotal tools. Its exact—likely ancient—origins remain mysterious, but historians know the scythe became common in Europe around the eighth century. Composed of a thin, very sharp blade attached to a curved wooden handle, the tool is swung from left to right by a standing scyther. According to the Museum of English Rural Life, an experienced reaper could cut down two acres of wheat in a day. 

“You need a level of physical fitness, but it’s also about enthusiasm and the passion to learn heritage skills,” Slade tells the Guardian’s Steven Morris. “It’s a repetitive movement. You find your rhythm and zone into it. You can really connect with the meadow, the landscape.”

The shrill carder bumblebee’s population has shrunk significantly with the decline of England’s flower-rich grasslands, per the statement. Taking a lawnmower to existing meadows, like those around Muchelney Abbey, can actually help wildflowers grow, and in turn provide bees with pollen. But the invasive machine can kill the bees, which nest in the ground. As Joseph O’Shea, a project officer at the Bumblebee Conservation Trust, tells the London Times’ Will Pavia, electric mowers are “so fast that things can’t get away.”

The volunteer scythers won’t just be landscaping in a bee-friendly fashion. They’ll also be performing wildlife surveys. Per the statement, the volunteers will record the number of bees, which flowers are in bloom, which plants the bees are visiting and how far the insects travel from their nests. 

Scythes haven’t been a common farmer’s tool for centuries. They first became popular as a more efficient alternative to ancient handheld sickles—hooked blades that required reapers to work at crop level. But in time, scythes were replaced by horse-drawn mowers, then mechanized combines. As riding lawnmowers and combines cut grass and wheat across England, the volunteer scythers are enjoying a quiet, pastoral reversion. 

“It’s incredibly satisfying, and hearing the swish through the ground is amazing,” McGregor tells BBC Radio Somerset. “It’s great exercise, and [it’s] been fun learning about its heritage.” 

Sonja Anderson is a daily correspondent for Smithsonian magazine who covers art, archaeology and culture, from newly discovered artifacts to the latest art heists.