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Deepdale Hall Farm is an Luxury Lakeland Farm.The farm was bought by Chris Brown’s father in 1954 and has been run by the family ever since. Chris Brown and his son, Jimmy, now work full time on the farm. The house was built around 1670 and was part of the Duke of Norfolk's Estate. The lounge of Deepdale Hall Cottage was used for the Court of the Lord of the Manor under the supervision of his steward. Deepdale Hall retains its Manorial Rights to this day.
The Farm Today
Chris and Jimmy run a traditional fell sheep flock of 600 hill ewes of which 90 are Herdwicks and the rest Swaledales. There are also a small number of cattle on the farm, as well as a menagerie of cats, dogs, chickens, ducks and some recent additions in the form of two ponies. Deepdale Hall is in the Lake District Environmentally Sensitive Area scheme and also has a Wildlife Enhancement Scheme agreement.
Environmental Features
Deepdale Hall is a typical Lake District fell farm in a steeply sided valley rising to high fells of nearly 3000 feet. The farm sits on the Borrowdale Volcanic series and the valley bottom has glacial moraines deposited at the end of the last ice age. These include gravels and boulder clay.
Flora and Fauna at Deepdale Hall
Red squirrels are living in an area of woodland which is designated as a SSSI. There is evidence of barn owls living in the Old Hogg House barn and peregrine falcons have also been sighted on the farm.
With the reduction in sheep numbers, heather moorland is regenerating on the fell. The farm has an area of ancient alder woodland which has been fenced off to prevent grazing damage.
History and Archaeology at Deepdale
There are two iron ore mines dating from the late 1800s and numerous small scale slate quarries. On the lower ground, there is evidence of a bronze age settlement in the form of earthworks indicating the presence of bronze age roundhouses. On the fell land, there is evidence of Viking settlements.
Other features include old charcoal burner pitsteads and a potash kiln. The kiln was used to burn bracken to make potash which was used in the linen industry. The kiln can be seen as a cobbled hollow.
Around 95% of the field boundaries are dry stone walls and Jimmy does most of the walling repairs himself.
Access
The farm has a network of footpaths including a right of way up to Fairfield , and another that goes up Deepdale Valley to St Sunday Crag. To the south west, Fairfield Fell leads over to Grasmere and Rydal Water. The fell has been open for access since 1925.
The Royal Family at Deepdale Hall
Prince Charles visited in April 2009, to learn about our family’s farm diversification project. He toured the farm and then met with other members of the Cumbrian rural farming community in The Byre to discuss the issues facing rural communities. Prince William and Kate also paid a visit in June 2019.
Come and Visit Us Soon
We look forward to welcoming you to our Lakeland Farm. If you’d like any more information on the farm or our animals please just speak to Chris or Jimmy. Scroll down the page to see more photos of the Farm.
Deepdale Hall Farm
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Deepdale Hall on the Telly
As well as our visit from Prince Charles we have also been featured on several television programmes.
In March 2013 Ellie Harrison interviewed Jimmy for the BBC2 programme The Great British Winter. The programme highlighted the resilience and beauty of our Herdwick sheep, and also caused some confusion with Jimmy’s Cumbrian dialect!
Richard Wilson also came to Deepdale Hall whilst filming his series on Britain’s Best Drives in 2009, which featured a journey to Deepdale via the Kirkstone pass.
Finally in 2007 Jimmy and the family featured in a series of films recording life on a Lake District Farm, Behind The Scenery -