October 2025 at Stourton

FREE pack of Willowglow Briquettes with every order of Kiln Dried Logs in November

We’re offering a FREE pack of Willoglow Briquettes with every kiln dried logs order in November!

Made from 100% British willow, Willoglow Briquettes are suitable for multi fuel stoves, open fires, fire pits and  BBQ’s. Providing approximately 1.5 hours of continuous heat, they’re free from spitting or sparking and are easy to modify to suit the size of your stove. They’re a great alternative or back up to your usual kiln dried logs!

The offer is available on any kiln dried log order placed from now until the end of November. To place your order, please click here.

Venison – Fresh and frozen cuts available to order!

 Fresh Venison- Next Delivery 14^th November

We now offer a monthly delivery of selected cuts of fresh venison – directly to your door. Plus if you live within 20 miles of LN9 5PB ( by road) then delivery is FREE. Our next fresh venison delivery date is 14^th November, so if you’d like to place an order simply fill out this form and we will get it to you!

Frozen Venison

We generally have most cuts of frozen venison in stock so if you would like to order anything particular especially in the run-up to the festive season please email contact@Stourtonestates.co.uk or phone Tina on (01507) 578236 Monday to Thursday 9-4.

Alternatively please come to see us at the Walled Garden Baumber’s Food & Drink fair on Saturday 22nd & Sunday 23rd of November where we will have plenty of venison on offer.

Christmas Trees now available to order!

Beautiful nordmann fir Christmas trees are available to order now.

Plus, you can get your tree delivered for FREE if you order kiln dried logs or landscaping products at the same time.

If you’d just like a tree delivering it is an additional £5 delivery charge (included in the price below), within 20 miles of LN9 5PB.

Orders will close on  Monday 24th November at midday and deliveries for Christmas tree orders will take place on Friday 28th November.

Click here to place your order.

On the Estate

It was great to see so many runners and families at our open day in early October. We spoke to many regular visitors; some sharing venison recipes, others telling us how much they enjoy coming to Stourton. One couple even gave us a thank you card which was so thoughtful and really appreciated- particularly at the end of a very busy season!

Since then we’ve been carefully getting ready for winter, removing outdoor features such as the picnic benches, ceremony benches, the fire pit and logs. These will be safely stored under cover over winter with any maintenance or repairs completed ahead of next season.

Looking ahead we’re busy planning our events calendar for 2026… it’s shaping up to be an exciting one as we’ll be celebrating 100 years of farming at Stourton. We’ll share our plans with you soon!

On the Farm

The weather has certainly changed — rain has arrived and temperatures have dropped. All our drilling is up to date, except for one field of wheat that will be sown once the sugar beet is lifted and we get a few dry days.

We’ve applied all our pre-emergence herbicides to the wheat, giving us the best control of blackgrass, our most troublesome weed. Drilling went very well this year, with lovely seedbeds and dry conditions that allowed everything to be completed on time. As the saying goes, “well sown, half grown.”

This year we also direct-drilled some wheat using the Avatar drill, which has done an excellent job. The drill disturbs very little soil — just a narrow slot to place the seed before closing it again. You can see from the attached photo how little disturbance there was when drilling into a five-year-old herbal ley that had been sprayed off with glyphosate. This direct-drilling method helps reduce fuel costs and preserves the strong soil structure built up during the herbal ley’s five-year break.

In October, we brought out the combine to harvest our sunflower crop, which performed very well thanks to the great summer weather. Being a late crop, it needs a few dry days to allow the heads to dry enough for combining.

The cattle are still outside for now, though they’ll soon come into the shed for winter as the ground gets wetter and grass quality declines. They’ll be fed a diet of herbal ley silage, home-grown cereals, and beans to maintain good protein and energy levels for growth.

We are also taking advantage of British Sugar’s sugar beet growing ‘holiday’ for the 2026/7 season. As sugar prices are currently so low British Sugar are allowing contract holders to take a year’s break on a first come first served basis. We plan to grow spring oats instead — a crop we can easily harvest and store using our existing equipment.

Deer Diary

All of the deer have now been wormed and supplemented with copper, which is vital for their bone and coat health . This supplementation process involves handling them all through the crush and giving them a copper bolus and a dose of wormer to keep them healthy.

All the boys have also been de-antlered so they are no longer a risk to each other – or us! And our two main stags Harry and Winston have moved into enclosures with their ladies ready for the rut.

It won’t be long until we bed down this year’s calves for the winter in the roundhouse.