Celebrating 100 Years

MANOR FARM BOURTON

Our History

The Verey family have been farming at Manor Farm in Bourton for four generations. David and Ann Verey have been breeding Suffolk and Charolais lambs, for the markets, for the past 30 years, in addition to breeding and fattening Aberdeen Angus cattle for supply to one of the national supermarkets.

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OUR HISTORY

2014
In 2014 Tim and Helen Verey started a new venture rearing Oxford Sandy and Black pigs for meat. At the end of last year, an on-farm unit was set up, with their brother-in-law Big Dave, to enable the production of homemade sausages on site.
2016
In November 2016 we started to sell meat directly from The Farm and alongside this, we set up the Larder Café. Having the Butchery and the Larder Café running alongside they work to compliment each other by having more opportunities to use and sell the meat we produce from The Farm.

2016
2018
We celebrated our centenary in October 2018. The Farm was brought by John Verey at an auction in Banbury and to mark this, we will set out our vision for the farm for the next decades to come.

With challenges of the environment, public perception, and food production within the global market, there are many hurdles along the way, but with the possibility of finding the right market for what we produce and showing the public our commitment to making a better local environment for nature and people there is a strong chance of still being a farm here for the next 100 years!
2019
The arrival of 2019 was met with the usual fluctuations of running a farming business with the added highs and lows of farm diversifications, especially with one of those diversions being in the hospitality sector.

Unfortunately, the farming side of the business was facing financially more challenging times and serious conversations were being had about how or what we could do with the land to give us a more stable income without having to sell The Farm and remain custodians of the land.

Having been approached by a solar park development firm the previous year (which we initially rejected) we decided to follow up with them to see what the possibilities of a solar park on The Farm were, and the pros and cons of doing so.

To cut a long-drawn-out story short, it was potentially a viable option for The Farm for the following reasons:

– Create a long-term stable income for The Farm through a rental income.
– To retain usage of the land through grazing of sheep.
– Potential for producing cleaner energy.
– Habitat creation, planting of new hedgerows and tree-planting areas.

Taking the above into consideration, towards the end of 2019 with all this going on and still busy establishing the Larder Café and Butchery side of The Farm we were about to face a coming storm from which not even taking shelter we could hide.

2019
2020
As we all know, March 2020 turned everything upside down, so we took a deep breath, held on tight and made the best of what we could with what had at the time.

The Larder Café was closed. The Butchery and Cheese Room went on, and with the captive local audience with not a great deal to do, and footfall when up. The Farm continued and all the animals were safe and well-fed.

We used the furlough system for staff members in the Larder Café, it was a lifeline that partly helped get us through. As and when we could offer food and drink to the public through such means as takeaway and delivery, we did. We adapted and changed our business model within the guidelines of the Covid rules and with a lot of hard work and sleepless nights we were fortunate enough to keep on establishing and growing the business throughout.
2021
Well-versed in the ways of Covid rules we carried on serving and entertaining the public with what we could and continued to enjoy building a relationship with the local community, with half a mind knowing that once the country was fully opened, we may face a downturn in custom.

Luckily, we have remained in people’s minds and the business found a steady local custom base which we work hard to maintain and cherish.

Whilst this was all going on, our Head Chef, Andy Tomlinson and the team carried on building up the regularity and reputation of the taster evening menus we started back in 2018. Towards the end of 2021 they became a regular monthly fixture over the course of two evenings under the banner of ‘Allium Taster Evenings’ and so far, have been growing in popularity as the months go on.

2021
2022
We continue to work hard in creating a growing business with food, farming, environment, and sustainability at its heart.

We are looking to carry on planting more hedgerows and trees this year, some through the solar park scheme and some through a part-funded woodland trust project. We are also looking at our environmental impact through what we use in the Larder Café and on The Farm. Where possible we will reduce our energy consumption and waste of any kind, to make the business more sustainable in the future.

We are working to establish good relationships with Local Artists and Crafters through which we can support each other’s businesses. We know that owning and running small, independent businesses can at times incredibly hard thing to do but being creative in your passions is also one of the most rewarding things you can do. And if we can help in any way we will.

Established 1774

MANOR FARM BOURTON

We’re passionate about

THE ENVIRONMENT

Over the past 5 years, we have been restoring and re-planting hedgerows. We are double fencing ditches to give larger wildlife corridors free from animals grazing and lessening the animal waste from entering watercourses. We are starting to plant more trees around the fields, with more leaning towards agroforestry type of farming over the years to come.

Through the Butchery and the Larder Café, we are growing a customer base for what we produce on The Farm. We hope these will be a sustainable side of the farming business, so we can keep putting more back into improving the local environment and giving people who are interested a chance to be up close to and find out how and where the food in this country is produced.

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