Party in a piggery: What this foodie farm is doing next

It’s not often you hear the words ‘luxury’ and ‘piggery’ in the same sentence – but Joe Evans, co-owner and manager of the Whitbourne Estate in rural Herefordshire, is taking his farm in a new direction this year by transforming an old piggery into a luxurious new venue for corporate events, special occasions and weddings. 

Joe and wife Keeley, the duo behind the award-winning Green Cow Kitchens restaurant on their 1,500 acre estate, are in the midst of building Crumplebury; a luxury venue designed for all manner of events, set to shake up the region’s offering of places to host special occasions.

After watching Green Cow Kitchens grow and succeed since 2012, the husband and wife team have been inspired to continue sharing their magnificent estate and food offering with their guests – but on a much larger scale. The award-winning restaurant was born from the estate shooting parties, originally providing a space to wine and dine the guests with produce lovingly farmed and nurtured on the estate. What started as simple hearty winter lunches with a little bottle of wine or two, soon turned into a cosy, fine-dining restaurant which is fully booked every week. Green Cow Kitchens has been hosting guests from near and far to try the unique monthly tasting menus ever since. During the winter months, the kitchen team create dishes from the estate pheasant, duck and partridge, and across the seasons the chefs forage for ingredients such as wild garlic, berries, plums, and elderflower. Local provenance is a huge driving factor behind the menus at the restaurant and whatever isn’t grown or reared on the farm is sourced from local suppliers.  

Crumplebury will be an exclusive space for weddings, parties, business team building days and any other special event one might need to host. The exquisite venue is nestled in gorgeous woodland and vast fields, allowing the creativity and ideas to run wild. 

The imposing new venue will consist of a banqueting hall – a space that’s set to have floor to ceiling glass gable ends to provide an incredible view of the surrounding countryside – a lounge, bar and gallery, 11 luxury bedrooms and a private cottage. The large spaces for entertaining means party revellers can make the most of their special day with up to 200 guests and retreat to one of the equally luxurious bedrooms when the clock strikes twelve (or maybe a bit later!). 

The build will be complete by October this year and the team are already receiving enquiries and bookings from eager businesses hoping to host their next away day in luxury, and happy couples wishing to be the first to get married at the venue. Food will remain at the heart of the Crumplebury venture with Green Cow Kitchens continuing to farm all its own produce, which will go into the bespoke menus for every event or wedding. 

For all the curious wanting to know more, a teaser video of Crumplebury’s offering can be found here: https://vimeo.com/305491842