Wiken Fen National Nature Reserve is one of Britain's oldest nature reserves. The first plot of land (2 acres/0.6ha) was acquired by the fledgling National Trust on 1st May 1899, and, through 56 separate conveyances over the course of the 20th century, the reserve now occupies 323ha. In this paper, we look back from the vantage point of Wicken Fen's centenary year at some of the changes that have occurred during the period of National Trust ownership and consider how to proceed over the next 100 years.