Sun Drenched
Shillingham’s south-facing fields roll their way to the historic tidal shores of the River Lynher, just a few miles from the sea. This creates a unique micro-climate with little frost and a very early Spring. Ideal for a vineyard.
Shillingham has been a working farm for four centuries. In the 1960s and 1970s, it was a dairy farm and in more recent years a beef, arable and lamb business.
However, Shillingham’s micro-climate has often made traditional farming practices challenging. Winter can be wild, Spring comes early, Autumn can linger and Summer can be very hot.
Shillingham is home to a stretch of Brunel’s original London-Penzance railway, which wound its way across the creeks and inlets of South Cornwall. After its construction, Shillingham became a major producer of vegetables, such as, cabbage, Brussels sprouts, kale, broccoli, turnips, and cauliflower. which could be in London within 24 hours of harvest.
Shillingham’s proximity to the river meant that it was also at the centre of the busy marine trade. Vessels carrying stone destined for Plymouth and London passed East by its foreshores, and those returning West stopped to off-load their “dock-dung”. This was the manure from the naval dockyard at Royal William Yard and later Devonport.
The dock dung contained a wealth of broken pottery and old, thick glass, much of which was uncovered during the vineyard’s soil preparation. It is now being transformed into a mosaic map of the vineyard.
The idea of a vineyard at Shillingham was first conceived in 1604 when Richard Carew of Antony published “A Survey of Cornwall”. Having previously travelled across Europe on an anthropological tour of discovery, he returned home and mused why nobody had tried to grow vines on the shores of the Lynher as its climate and soil seemed perfectly suited. 500 years later, in Spring 2021 preparation of the land and planting of the vines began.
Adapted from:
shillingham.com/family-run-business/
Sun Drenched
Shillingham’s south-facing fields roll their way to the historic tidal shores of the River Lynher, just a few miles from the sea. This creates a unique micro-climate with little frost and a very early Spring. Ideal for a vineyard.
Shillingham has been a working farm for four centuries. In the 1960s and 1970s, it was a dairy farm and in more recent years a beef, arable and lamb business.
However, Shillingham’s micro-climate has often made traditional farming practices challenging. Winter can be wild, Spring comes early, Autumn can linger and Summer can be very hot.
Shillingham is home to a stretch of Brunel’s original London-Penzance railway, which wound its way across the creeks and inlets of South Cornwall. After its construction, Shillingham became a major producer of vegetables, such as, cabbage, Brussels sprouts, kale, broccoli, turnips, and cauliflower. which could be in London within 24 hours of harvest.
Shillingham’s proximity to the river meant that it was also at the centre of the busy marine trade. Vessels carrying stone destined for Plymouth and London passed East by its foreshores, and those returning West stopped to off-load their “dock-dung”. This was the manure from the naval dockyard at Royal William Yard and later Devonport.
The dock dung contained a wealth of broken pottery and old, thick glass, much of which was uncovered during the vineyard’s soil preparation. It is now being transformed into a mosaic map of the vineyard.
The idea of a vineyard at Shillingham was first conceived in 1604 when Richard Carew of Antony published “A Survey of Cornwall”. Having previously travelled across Europe on an anthropological tour of discovery, he returned home and mused why nobody had tried to grow vines on the shores of the Lynher as its climate and soil seemed perfectly suited. 500 years later, in Spring 2021 preparation of the land and planting of the vines began.
Adapted from:
shillingham.com/family-run-business/