Riverlandia

This immersive fictional audio story explores the life of a river valley at a time of ecological change, as narrated by ten of its inhabitants, most of whom are non-human. It follows a teenage girl who is struggling to fit in at school and is uncertain about her future, but who finds meaning in the landscape. Points of view include the river itself, a bullhead fish, a dragonfly, an alder tree, sheep, and a skylark, and a human ranger.

Riverlandia was shortlisted for a Creative Climate Award in 2025, and shown at events and installations including at The British Library, Brooklyn Public Library, and Exeter Phoenix as part of the Climate Forum 2025.

The work was originally commissioned by the National Trust as a creative response to a landmark river restoration project on the Holnicote Estate in Porlock Vale, Exmoor, which involved transforming part of the River Allen to recreate the wetland that would have characterised the floodplain in centuries past. The project has already slowed the flow of water, significantly reducing the risk of local flooding, enabling more water to remain in the ground during periods of drought, and increasing biodiversity. The project is part of a tapestry of nature restoration work across the landscape, which includes connecting woodlands to create improved wildlife corridors, and supporting regenerative farming.

The polyphonic narrative, featuring a majority of non-human points of view, forms part of a strategic creative approach to exploring our entanglement with more-than-human life by decentring the human. The rich soundscape increases the immersive effect of the story and enables more-than-human voices, and the biophony of the landscape, to participate in the narrative.

The dynamic cast of actors voice actors includes: Gemma Whelan (Game of Thrones) as the sheep; Bethany Antonia (House of the Dragon) as the river and the girl; Mike Wozniak (Junior Taskmaster) as the beaver; Spencer Jones (Ted Lasso) as the ranger; Tom Parry (Your Christmas or Mine?) as the bullhead fish; Will Adamsdale (Perrier Award Winner) as the alder tree, Severine Howell-Meri as the dragonfly, Alice Barclay as the tree lungwort lichen, and Richard Dale as the skylark.

The soundscape was designed by Nicholas Allan, incorporating field recordings from the National Trust’s Holnicote Estate and sounds from the British Library’s archive.

Commissioned by The National Trust. Funded by the Green Recovery Challenge Fund.

An animated film version of Riverlandia created by Wiles is available for events and installations of the work.