Actor Toby Jones and celebrity gardener Adam Frost have agreed to become patrons of the John Clare Countryside project.

Mangers of the project say the high profile additions show the growing national support for the goal of creating a large and accessible heritage landscape west of Peterborough.

The venue is intended to be a destination for visitors, home to thriving farming and wildlife and a place for quiet relaxation and regeneration for the people of Peterborough.

The two new arrivals join Dame Fiona Reynolds, former chief executive of the National Trust and Master of Emmanuel College plus BBC journalist Martha Kearney as new Patrons.

Toby Jones is a long-time Clare-fan, introduced to the poet’s legacy when his father played Clare in a BBC production in 1970.

Later Toby and his father acted alongside each other in “By Ourselves”, another film about Clare’s life, playing the poet at different stages of his life.

Since then, Toby has recorded a series of You Tube videos in which he reads Clare’s poems.

Toby said, “The life and poetry of John Clare have had a profound and unexpected influence on my life.

"I look forward to exploring and extending this influence as Patron of the John Clare Countryside Project.

"I am excited and proud to share the adventure of this project as it pursues such worthwhile goals for the wider community.”

Adam Frost lived and worked locally for many years in the heart of Clare country and is currently writing a book of walks in Clare Country.

Martha Kearney said: “I have loved John Clare’s nature poetry for a long time so I’m delighted to support The John Clare Countryside project which celebrates and protects the landscape he loved."

Dame Fiona said: “In my years as Master of Emmanuel I spent a lot of time walking in the Cambridgeshire countryside.

"It was magical to explore Helpston and Barnack with their traces of history still visible; to discover the work of the John Clare Countryside Project and the revelations it is bringing about; and – most meaningfully for me – to read Clare’s

evocative words of loss and enclosure as I walked the fields. I’m proud to be a Patron and keen to see the project progress.’

Chair of the John Clare Countryside partnership, Richard Astle, said: “We are so privileged to have Toby, Adam, Martha and Fiona join our Patrons – it’s a real demonstration of just how much support there is for the ambitions of John Clare Countryside and how this has the potential to build Peterborough’s profile as a visitor destination.

"The project combines nature recovery, sustainable farming, literature, and communities.

"It can be the perfect companion to the city’s growth agenda – demonstrating that heritage, beauty, literature and nature can, if carefully planned, go hand in hand with housing and economic growth.”