Limestone sourced from Whalley Farm was used on a recent extension to the farmhouse and to build the Houses of Parliament

With a history dating back to Roman times and ancient land records from the 11th Century mentioning Whalley, Whalley Farm came into the ownership of the Rowe family in 1937 when the farm from was bought from a Mr. Clifford. Used in the past for sheep farming, the farm is now the home of the Woldtop Herd of high quality pedigree dairy cattle, and we rear our own Holstein Friesian calves.

Our Herd Manager is the man who along with some help, tends and milks the cows. When he is not milking, calving, feeding or cleaning out the cowsheds, he can often be seen walking a cow or two around the yard on a halter. There is nothing that he cannot tell you about cows in general, but with our own award winning herd, he can relate to each one's parentage and calves without hesitation. If you are interested in learning about our cows or the farm then he will be happy to chat with you.

Find out about our dairy farm and the Woldtop Herd. Maybe you can lend a hand in the milking parlour!

It is a little known fact that during World War Two, Whalley Farm was home to both German Prisoners of War and Jewish refugees, who worked alongside one another to grow crops in order to feed the Nation.

In January 2001, a Time Team programme was aired on Channel Four showing the archaeology excavation which took place in one of the farm fields, and found around three Roman Villas. It is thought that some of the stone from one of the villas could have been used in the building of our farmhouse.

As featured on a recent BBC documentary, stone has been commercially mined around Whalley Farm since the 1600's. If you take a walk onto the Downs around the farm and into the woods, you will see historic clues to the mining of limestone. In the woods, you can see the entrance to a labyrinth of mines under the local hills where limestone was regulary excavated.

The padlocked entrance to the stone mines under the hills and woodlands around Whalley Farm.

The limestone from the mines was used for the building of many Regency buildings in Cheltenham and for building the Houses of Parliament. Indeed, we sourced our own limestone from around the farm when adding a recent extension to the farmhouse.

If you would like to find out more about the local history around Whalley Farm, why not make a booking to stay at our bed and breakfast. Please contact Gill Rowe on Cheltenham 01242 820213 or Mobile 07786 437235. You can email your enquiry to rowefarms@farmline.com