About Us

Marchington village was settled by the Saxons and is recorded in the Doomsday Book. An even older settlement lay at the top of Marchington Cliff. Though originally closely aligned with the Brook, the present field pattern can be traced back to the 13th century. The oldest surviving houses possibly date back to the 15th century, as does FORESTSIDE FARM, although it is difficult to be precise because of the custom of continually building on and around older buildings.

 

Marchington Hall in the village, is probably evidence of this as, although bricked over and restored in the late 17th century, it is thought to be mentioned in a reference dated 1297 as the “chief messuage” and again in 1615 as “utterly decayed”.
 

What is now known as Marchington Woodlands, was literally woodland at the time of Doomsday but was steadily cleared over the next two or three centuries, including several substantial estates now marked by abandoned moats. It remained essentially open woodland pasture held in common by the parishioners. In the late Elizabethan times it was enclosed, establishing the field pattern which has largely remained unaltered to the present day.
 

The prosperity of Marchington has been based on the earliest recorded history of dairy farming, and today’s landscape is deep rooted in the past. Forestside Farm is one such dairy farm and Chris is a seventh-generation farmer, although his father only moved here in 1948, from the family home farm just over the border in Derbyshire.
 

Janette and Chris purchased the farm in 1985 and converted to Organic farming in 2000. They milk around 85 cows and breed their own young stock. The farm is 156 acres (63 hectares) and produces grass and herbal leys for cattle to graze in the summer and cut for silage, for winter feed. The breed of cows you will see in the fields in the summer is Montbeliarde. These cattle produce good milk which is sold to their co-operative Arla. Organic milk is supplied to McDonalds restaurants around the UK.