The Farm

Ravenshill as it is now comprises an old red-brick farmhouse, a handful of outbuildings and a little over 2 acres of land. I currently grow flowers on about half an acre of that land, in a series of productive areas set within a larger informal garden.

Ravenshill has been my home, on and off, my whole life. I grew up here, spent many precious interludes here while I was trying to find my way in the world, and in the end I have found myself drawn back to stay.

Simply put, this place is the where, the why, and the how of what I do. Every flower I grow is an attempt to realise its potential and celebrate its spirit.

I believe this strong connection to my growing space lends something special to my flowers. They are not just a product but part of a story - one deeply rooted in a sense of belonging. The farm is my frame and my filter for the world, and it has formed in me particular instincts for how flowers should look, and what they should represent. 

The Setting

No less important to me than the immediate surroundings of the farm is its local landscape.

Ravenshill is hidden away on the edge of the Forest of Dean, perched atop its eponymous hill, with spectacular views north to the Malvern Hills. Although it might feel exposed, the site is sheltered on three sides by broadleaved woodlands, which erupt with narcissi, wood anemones, wild garlic and bluebells in the spring. Be it the work of the woods or the hill, I often watch storm clouds part and slide away either side of us, blocking out the valley with great slabs of grey.

The farmhouse itself is literally born of the regional soil, its bricks fired from the same clay that has sustained livelihoods hereabouts for generations.

The character of this quiet island of Gloucestershire is profoundly rural. There is a rawness here that reminds you it is a working landscape, but also a rich and delicate natural beauty that is completely enchanting.

My story

Before starting Ravenshill Flower Farm, I worked for the best part of ten years as a gardener on public and private estates around the country, from Northamptonshire to Cumbria to the far north of Scotland. In my last job, nearer to home in Gloucestershire, a vacancy came up in the cut flower garden, and I took on the role without any sense that I would find it particularly rewarding - in fact, quite the opposite: I had always felt up to that point that flowers were better off left on the plant!

Nonetheless I quickly found that I had an affinity with both the productive and the creative aspects of cut flower growing; it was one of those times when something just clicks. A couple of years later a friend introduced me to Flowers From The Farm, a membership organisation for British flower growers and florists, and the idea that one might make an independent living from this line of work.

I had always had a vague notion that Ravenshill could be something more than a family home. I loved the farming heritage of the site and surrounding countryside, and as beautiful as my parents had made the house and gardens, they seemed to me only half alive, almost waiting to be made useful again.

So, in that spirit, I started the ground work for my first cut flower areas in the autumn of 2019 and have not looked back since.

I should say that Ravenshill is still very much the place of my parents’ creation and my childhood memories. Many of the main markers and divisions of the garden I grew up with are still there, either in now-mature shrubs and trees or in the landscaping. I myself have spent a lot of time and energy on the ornamental as well as the productive side of the grounds, and this is a key part of Ravenshill Flower Farm’s identity. It’s a deeply personal place, and the farm is a deeply personal venture. I only hope that this comes across in the flowers I grow and create.