Hartley Farm Shop

Wiltshire

Among the sprawling fields near Bradford-on-Avon, six miles outside Bath, is an attractive timber barn that houses Hartley Farm Shop and Kitchen. For ten years, this shop, café and butcher’s has sat at the heart of fifth-generation farmer Tom Bowles’s family farm.

Today, it’s the lifeblood of the family business and a regular haunt for locals looking to stock up from Wiltshire’s abundant larder. Inside, you’ll find colourful crates of fresh vegetables and salad picked from the farm, plus homemade Scotch eggs, pork pies and sausage rolls, all baked on the premises. Cheese-fiends will struggle to choose from a well-stocked counter. Keep an eye out for Bath Blue and Merry Wyfe from the Bath Soft Cheese Company – either of which would make a perfect lunch when paired with a hunk of the shop’s sourdough loaf.

If you’re looking for condiments to pair with your deli spread, be sure not to miss local supplier In a Pickle, which creates jams and chutneys from their home kitchen in the village. Hartley Farm Shop proudly wears the badge of being the company’s first stockist, so the jars get pride of place on the shelves. Thirst-quenching refreshments, meanwhile, include artisan pours from independent producers such as Old Dairy Brewery and Honey’s Cider. In the wine section, Bowles’s sister Abi is responsible for selecting the excellent bottle selection.

Bowles takes pride in the farm’s herd of grass-fed cows, which are butchered on-site – so it would be rude not to stop by the butcher’s counter and peruse the dry-aged beef. Too hungry to wait until you get home? Stop by The Kitchen to try a braised beef pie along with other delicacies from the farm and its favourite suppliers.