The University was founded in 1901 using a legacy from a local landowner, Thomas Harper Adams. The campus and parts of the farm sit on the original farmland owned by Thomas Harper Adams. The University estate has increased in size over the last 120 years to 298 hectares of owned land this is augmented by a further 402 hectares rented through a range of short-term forms of tenure. The estate includes permanent pasture, short term forages, arable land, amenity areas together with a range of habitats including woodland, pools, water courses and stewardship sites. Cropping is based on cereals, oilseeds, a range of forages, maize and grassland. Livestock enterprises include a dairy herd, sheep, beef, pig and poultry units.
The farm exhibits a wide range of soil types, taking a North/South line through the main farm; the University site is situated in a shallow basin, with land rising gently to the South where the poultry unit is located. To the North the land is relatively level, the lower ground is mostly heavy clay with a large peat basin on the western edge of the farm. This land has a short machinery working season and is liable to structural instability. Considerable care is taken to minimise winter traffic of farm machinery on these fields. As the land rises to the South the soils become increasingly lighter and sandier over shallow sandstone.
