Funding received: £22,947.72 (80% of total project cost)

Priority areas*: Farm diversification, rural tourism, providing cultural and heritage activity

Project outline: Enhance the farm’s tourism offer through enhanced camping facilities, building hives and developing honey production at the farm and new equipment for the blacksmith.

Key dates:

• May 2018 – full application submitted
• November 2018 – funding awarded
• May 2019 – project completed

Uncovering more of Sacrewell’s past

Sacrewell Farm has a history that stretches back as far as the Domesday survey of 1086 and has a special place in the heritage of Peterborough. The farm has been run as a charity since 1964 with the aim to provide agricultural education for everyone, from school children to heritage enthusiasts.

Thanks to the LEADER funding programme, the farm now boasts enhanced facilities for campers, and new attractions for visitors that want to learn more about nature and farming.

The programme has helped expand activities already taking place at the farm:

• Enclosed showers for campers.
• A polytunnel to accommodate educational activities like the ‘Little Saplings’ group and school trips.
• A mobile forge for the blacksmith to enable him to visit shows around the country promoting his skills and the farm.

Some additional attractions have also been put in place thank to the grant:

• Bee hives and beekeeping equipment now sit under an apple tree in the courtyard by the farmhouse and blacksmith’s workshop.
• A honey house will be developed in a renovated barn to serve as another education centre for visitors. Beekeeping gear will be provided so guests can immerse themselves in hive life!
• Improvements to the old farmhouse’s electrics, plumbing and heating

Richard Hadfield, Strategic Projects Manager at Sacrewell Farm explains more about the plans for the historic site, “We’re really proud of the role that Sacrewell Farm plays in local agricultural education and are always looking to offer something new so we can help our visitors create even more great experiences together!

“Ultimately we want to achieve organic growth for Sacrewell Farm and funding like LEADER are a huge boost to what we can offer. There’s around 50-acres that we can use and we’re really keen to uncover and share as much of the farm’s history and heritage as we can.

“We’re also making improvements to the old farmhouse’s infrastructure, heating and electrics so it can be hired out for workshops, meetings and training, as well as hosting more of our own seasonal events.”

This LEADER programme is overseen by a Local Action Group (LAG) made up of 13 local volunteers from a variety of sectors and professions.

Dennis Stanley, chair of the LAG said, “Sacrewell Farm is a fantastic example of the work that LEADER aims to support. We’re delighted to have helped the team develop an entirely new attraction for the farm whilst providing additional resource to existing facilities.

“There is a really comprehensive offer for visitors which is only going to get better if the team’s plans are anything to go by. I really commend the Sacrewell Farm team for their dedication to bringing more of the site and its buildings back into use – vital for protecting the area’s heritage and getting more people interested in agriculture and nature.”

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