Regional & Seasonal: Askham Hall Café and Gardens

In the rolling green pastures of the Eden Valley, on the edge of the high Lake District hills, sits a country estate. The late spring sunshine beams down over the slate tiles of a stately home, urging the flowers in its extensive gardens into life. Despite the grandeur of Grade I listed Askham Hall, however, most of the activity hums around a small barn among the vegetable and salad plots. Outside the old cattle byre, people sit on wooden benches, chattering and scooping spoonfuls of home-made ice cream. Others tuck into salads made from leaves cut from the garden that very day. Along one side of the barn, against a wall, grows a herb garden; elsewhere, beans clamber up poles amid alliums bearing purple pom-pom heads. Everything served at the Askham Hall Café is picked from the kitchen garden or sourced from producers nearby. Chickens cluck and pigs snuffle in this place where provenance is valued as highly as quality. The café is run by Marie-Louisa Raeburn and her brother Charles Lowther, who grew up in the house. “It’s our family home,” Marie-Louisa explains. “It’s an 800-year-old peel tower building and has been in our family for 200 years.” The oldest parts of the house date to the late 12th century, with later

additions made during the 16th and 17th centuries. Though for much of this time it was occupied privately, in 2006, after their father passed away, the siblings decided to open it up, beginning with the garden café in the cattle barn. Working with such an old and unique setting meant a number of challenges had to be negotiated before they were even able to start work on the building. “The barns and gardens are Grade II listed, so planning regulations took approximately six years to be approved,” says Marie-Louisa. Though some parts of the stables were still in good condition, others were crumbling, so after having their plan signed off, they began work in earnest. “The stables were in very poor condition when we started,” she explains. “They needed to be made structurally sound. The key was to preserve all the original features while making it comfortable and pleasant.” Inside, the cobbled floor has been scrubbed clean, the walls and original cow pens whitewashed and the roof entirely replaced. Sun beams in through the deep-set windows, alighting on rustic wooden tables, each decorated with a simple glass vase bearing flowers cut from the garden. Wicker seats are pulled up around them, and specials are chalked up on a large blackboard, along with important

notes from the garden, crediting the gardeners and volunteers or celebrating abundant harvests. The garden is clearly as important as the place. It is here where most of their food is produced; the menu refreshed daily, depending on what is in season or growing particularly well. “The food is central,” says Marie-Louisa. “If we can’t produce it ourselves, we source ingredients from local farmers where we know that the quality is really good, and we visit the farms.” They also rear Shorthorn cattle, rare breed pigs, Boer goats, ducks and chickens. Cheese, meats and vegetables are all sourced from the grounds, with red and roe deer provided from the neighbouring Lowther estate. “You know exactly what you’re getting on your plate because you can go and see it in the garden,” says Marie-Louisa. On a glorious day in May, birds hop around the benches outside the barn picking up stray crumbs, and a red squirrel scampers up a nearby tree. The chef nips outside to cut another handful of fresh salad leaves. “For us, it’s obviously very personal because it’s our home,” says Marie-Louisa. As people relax and laugh over their meals, it is clear that, at Askham Hall, this feeling is shared.

Home-grown and locally-sourced produce ensures quality and freshness at a Lake District estate