The environment
We take our responsibilities for the local environment very seriously.
We are a keen supporter of the Countryside Stewardship Scheme.
We also back the neighboring Ashleworth Ham Wetland Scheme run by the Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust.
About Chamberlayne Farms
Farming history
The Chamberlayne family has been farming in Gloucestershire for many generations – coming to Maisemore in 1929, expanding to cover Ashleworth in 1942. Chamberlayne Farms became a limited company in 1964 and since then has seen many changes.
The early years
Until 1960, the farming was traditionally mixed, with an emphasis on milk. The two farms were run separately with some co-operation in machinery use. Thereafter, the farms were run as one, growing cereals and potatoes, with sheep on rough grazing and barley fed beef in the yards at Maisemore Court. For a few years, blackcurrants were grown, until the choice had to be made between a big expansion, to justify large scale mechanisation or quitting, due to excessive labour cost for hand picking. We chose the latter.
Pig farming
In 1970, the company began pig farming, initially in the former dairy buildings at Ashleworth Court – then building on a new site at Berrow Farm on the outskirts of Ashleworth village. We ceased pig farming in 2008 due to market conditions.
Crop production
We pioneered the cultivation of the floodplain and even grew potatoes on the land between 1964 and 1997. On the lighter ground, our rotation includes wheat and barley – on the heavier (about half the farm), wheat, barley, rape and beans – sometimes, linseed.
Diversification
In 1986, we began a venture into venison production, on the rough grazing land, with the product home butchered and sold direct, as freezer packs. This soon ended so that the family could concentrate on crop and the development of The Steadings Business Centre.
In 1992, we started work on developing the Steadings Business Centre in Maisemore by converting a historic group of farm buildings. This development would serve to create a new income stream to offset the well predicted low returns from general farming as well as create a considerable new asset for the farm. Costing £2 million, the development was completed in 2000.
In 2003, Chamberlayne Developments was set up. Its purpose is to again supplement the company’s traditional farming income by developing residential and commercial properties. In 2004, six new houses in Upton St Leonards were completed, in 2006,a traditional oak framed house in Ashleworth and in 2008, five homes in Tewkesbury.