Our mission is to leave Highclere Castle for the next generation in a more sustainable condition. We aim to conserve our heritage buildings, ancient landscapes and woodlands so that so they can be enjoyed by future generations.
In agriculture, we aim to preserve our soils and permanent pastures so they can continue to grow quality crops and support our sheep but at the same time allow space for the natural world to thrive in and around them. We are not organic but conservation farmers where we optimize output in relation to the capacity of soil types to grow crops. We use minimum till cultivation so as to preserve soil structure and save on the fuel and machinery costs of deep ploughing. We have significant areas of hedges, uncultivated grass verges, wildflower strips and meadows, low input grassland and areas devoted to helping more rare birds such as Stone Curlews and Lapwings. There is 1,000 acres of permanent grass pastureland which is never cultivated so it continues to be a store of carbon in its soil structure.
Forestry is managed so as to preserve ancient woodland with its important ecological habitats, and we are aiming to plant new areas of woodland where arable farming is no longer efficient on steeper gradients. We have a 50KvA solar panel area which helps power our oat processing plant where we make quality oats palatable for performance horses.
In the Castle and surrounding buildings all light bulbs are LED type so saving much power in comparison to older lightbulb types. We also aim to build a thriving community who enjoy living and working at Highclere Castle and create sustainable, interesting and long-term support of the Highclere Estate.
Highclere Castle Gin is produced with partner vendors who have equal commitment to sustainability. The glass bottle is produced by Stoelzle Glass Group in the UK and invests substantially in technology and facilities to reduce their carbon footprint. In 2018, they were awarded a silver medal by Echovadis in recognition of their corporate sociability rating. Through their reuse of cullet (used glass) approximately 164,000 tons of raw materials are saved, and 42,000 ton of CO2 emissions are saved.
Highclere Castle Gin is distilled at Langley Distillery in the UK. Langley operates an environmental management system which complies with the requirements of ISO 14001:2015 through BSI, one of the world’s largest certification bodies.
Forestry is managed so as to preserve ancient woodland with its important ecological habitats, and we are aiming to plant new areas of woodland where arable farming is no longer efficient on steeper gradients. We have a 50KvA solar panel area which helps power our oat processing plant where we make quality oats palatable for performance horses.
This is the wild flower meadow to the south of the Castle this time with a view to the south west with Oxe Eye daisies in all their glory.
View from high track on Crux Easton farm back towards Beacon Hill and its Iron Age fort (all of Beacon Hill is untouched ancient chalk downland special SSSI area – site of special scientific interest including Iron Age Fort ) with wildflower strip & summer poppies alongside the track. Not having the arable crop right up to the track gives ground nesting wild birds and insects a chance to live with no chemicals etc.
High on the clay cap plateau at Crux Easton farm not far from the Wayfarers Walk byway (horses/walkers path goes for some 60 miles towards Emsworth in Sussex) is an old oak and beech wood where Bluebells have grown for hundreds of years and this is a typical scene in late April early May. Apart from some forestry management this is an untouched area and no chemicals or fertiliser so just nature in our temperate climate and the glory of the amazing Bluebells in spring.
