Farming is part of our heritage and we own over 1,250 acres of farmland in the Weald of Kent.
The majority of our farmland is now rented out to neighbouring farmers. The top fruit orchards consist of Bramley, Cox, Russet and Braeburn apples, and conference pears. New varieties recently planted are Reubens and Cameo. Main crops grown on the arable ground are wheat, barley, oil seed rape and winter beans. The strawberry sites consist of intensive “table top” systems, under tunnels.
Grassland next to the River Beult is managed with the aid of a grant via the countryside stewardship scheme. This is done on a low input regime to help protect the area’s unique clay river valley environment.
We manage and maintain our farm woodlands and we also operate a small-scale felling and replanting programme. The whole farm is registered under the government’s Entry Level Stewardship Scheme (ELS) which enables us to manage the land in an environmentally sensitive way.
