Our Oaken Bones: Reviving a Family, a Farm and Britain’s Ancient Rainforests

After tours of Afghanistan and years in the boardrooms of London, Merlin Hanbury-Tenison and his wife Lizzie return to his childhood farm on Bodmin Moor, Cornwall.

Once neglected and overgrazed, the woodlands surrounding Cabilla turn out to be one of Britain’s last fragments of ancient Atlantic rainforest. As the couple wrestle with personal trauma—including Merlin’s PTSD and Lizzie’s heartbreaking miscarriages—they find healing in the valley’s moss-covered trees and rushing streams.

Together, they take on the fight to restore this fragile habitat while rebuilding their lives and laying the groundwork for a bold vision: to rewild Britain’s rainforests for future generations. Our Oaken Bones is a memoir of renewal, nature’s healing power, and our responsibility to protect the land that sustains us.