Fordhall Farm is an

organic Organic may refer to: * Organic, of or relating to an organism, a living entity * Organic, of or relating to an anatomical organ Chemistry * Organic matter, matter that has come from a once-living organism, is capable of decay or is the product ...

farm of 128

acre The acre ( ) is a Unit of measurement, unit of land area used in the Imperial units, British imperial and the United States customary units#Area, United States customary systems. It is traditionally defined as the area of one Chain (unit), ch ...

s, in

Market Drayton Market Drayton is a market town and civil parish on the banks of the River Tern in Shropshire (district), Shropshire, England. It is close to the Cheshire and Staffordshire borders. It is located between the towns of Whitchurch, Shropshire, Wh ...

in north

Shropshire Shropshire (; abbreviated SalopAlso used officially as the name of the county from 1974–1980. The demonym for inhabitants of the county "Salopian" derives from this name.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West M ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. It is owned by an

industrial and provident society An industrial and provident society (IPS) is a body corporate registered for carrying on any industries, businesses, or trades specified in or authorised by its rules. The members of a society benefit from the protection of limited liability ...

, the Fordhall Community Land Initiative (FCLI), whose aim is to use the farm for community benefit. The farm became a

cause célèbre A ( , ; pl. ''causes célèbres'', pronounced like the singular) is an issue or incident arousing widespread controversy, outside campaigning, and heated public debate. The term is sometimes used positively for celebrated legal cases for th ...

in 2005, when a campaign to raise funds for FCLI to purchase the land gained national press attention. Within the boundaries of the farm are the remains (earthworks) of Fordhall castle, a scheduled

Norman Norman or Normans may refer to: Ethnic and cultural identity * The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 9th and 10th centuries ** People or things connected with the Norma ...

ringwork-and- bailey

castle A castle is a type of fortification, fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by Military order (monastic society), military orders. Scholars usually consider a ''castle'' to be the private ...

History

The ringwork was first noted as recently as 1950, although the name of its location, Castlehill Wood, certainly predates the 20th century. The ringwork has been identified with Moretoin Castle, attested in 1215 and possibly the castle mentioned by the antiquary Leland as 'Draiton apon Terne'. It is a monument scheduled under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979 ("Ringwork and bailey castle 390m west of Buntingsdale Hall, List entry Number 1019659") The farm was formerly part of the

Buntingsdale Hall Buntingsdale Hall is a historic country house in the parish of Sutton upon Tern, to the southwest of Market Drayton in Shropshire, England. It became a Grade II* listed building on 14 February 1979. History Buntingsdale Hall was first built fo ...

estate, which was broken up in the 20th century. The tenant was an early adopter of

organic farming Organic farming, also known as organic agriculture or ecological farming or biological farming,Labelling, article 30 o''Regulation (EU) 2018/848 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 30 May 2024 on organic production and labelling of ...

practice, as well as being one of the first producers of

yoghurt Yogurt (; , from , ; also spelled yoghurt, yogourt or yoghourt) is a food produced by bacterial fermentation of milk. Fermentation of sugars in the milk by these bacteria produces lactic acid, which acts on milk protein to give yogurt its tex ...

in the United Kingdom

Bringing the farm into collective ownership

The farm became a

in 2005. A campaign was launched on 28 September 2005 to raise funds to purchase the land and bring it into collective ownership. The project had widespread support from celebrities including

Alan Titchmarsh Alan Fred Titchmarsh (born 2 May 1949) is an English gardener, broadcaster and writer. After working as a professional gardener and a horticultural journalist, he became a radio and television presenter and a novelist. Early career Alan Fred T ...

Prunella Scales Prunella Margaret Rumney West Scales (''née'' Illingworth; born 22 June 1932) is an English retired actress. She portrayed Sybil Fawlty, the bossy wife of Basil Fawlty (John Cleese), in the BBC comedy ''Fawlty Towers'' and Queen Elizabeth ...

and

Sting Stimulator of interferon genes (STING), also known as transmembrane protein 173 (TMEM173) and MPYS/MITA/ERIS is a regulator protein that in humans is encoded by the STING1 gene. STING plays an important role in innate immunity. STING induces typ ...

, and gained national press attention. The landowner agreed to sell the farm for £800,000 to the Fordhall Community Land Initiative by 1 July 2006. As a result of the campaign, the purchase money was raised. Over 7500 people bought £50 shares, raising £600,000, with £100,000 interest free loans and a £100,000 loan from

Triodos Bank Triodos Bank N.V. is an ethical bank based in the Netherlands with branches in Belgium, Germany, United Kingdom, and Spain. It was founded in 1980. History The name Triodos is derived from the Greek "τρὶ- (tri, three) and ὁδος (hod ...

. The Fordhall Community Land Initiative is an industrial and Provident Society with charitable status. It is currently owned by over 8000 shareholders from across the world. This society owns all of Fordhall Farm. Volunteer weekends for part-owners are run several times a year, and the farm hosts events and activities involving the local community. The farm is at next to the

factory of Müller Dairy.

References

External links

Fordhall Farm
{{Coord, 52.89148, -2.52612, type:landmark_region:GB_source:enwiki-osgb36(SJ647328), display=title Farms in England Charities based in Shropshire Market Drayton