Richard Browning took on the family farm in 1981, having trained at the Royal Agricultural College, Cirencester, and at that time it was a conventionally run arable farm, which had been in the family for 3 generations.
In the 1990’s farmers were being encouraged to grow genetically modified crops, which he felt great resistance to, and decided to make the move to farm organically. This seemed like a natural progression as he had already planted 35 acres of woodland, 5km of hedging and brought in livestock to make a mixed farming system.
Since then the farm has diversified in several different directions; his sons Nat and Archie have created their own events business, allowing the farm to be enjoyed by others either for weddings, private/corporate events and family glamping. Lucy, Richard’s wife is a sculptor whose work is hugely influenced by life on the farm.
The farm is made up of a group of medieval listed vernacular buildings, that need to be preserved to the best of our ability; in order to help in this regard one of the old barns has been converted in to a restaurant, run by Richard’s sister and husband, and the old cow shed has become a holiday let.