Get to know more about Botton Creamery…
It’s a long and winding road up beautiful Danby Dale, in the heart of the North Yorkshire Moors National Park, to find Botton Village and its award-winning cheeses.
Botton is part of the Camphill Village Trust where adults with learning disabilities live and work together in a caring and nurturing environment. With two organic farms, a village store and a café, the community has a flourishing Creamery where they make four fabulous cheeses from a small herd of Ayrshires and Dairy Shorthorns with their award winning rich, yellow,
Botton farm produces the highest quality organic milk which is all used by the Creamery and . The creamery specialises in hard cheeses with four currently on sale: Dale End Cheddar, Mooreland Tomme, Summerfield’s and Botton Gouda (with a variety of ages and savoury flavours). The cheeses are matured on site for between 12 weeks (Botton Gouda) to 12 months (Dale End Cheddar). with the season and the cow’s diet, as this changes the milk’s characteristics. The Creamery and farm work together to both provide work experience for the people Camphill Village Trust supports as well as generating an income for the charity.
In May 2022 Ruth Wells joined the Camphill Village Trust as Creamery Manager and lives in the Botton community. Ruth is a farmer’s daughter, having grown up on a small dairy farm in East Yorkshire, studying at Askham Bryan College and the University of Hull before working in land-based education and then moving to a higher education charity. Her love of cheese making started with her Mum in their farmhouse kitchen in the late 90’s before being and farmhouse cheesemakers and industry experts.
Dale End Cheddar is a distinctive cheese with a tangy bite and rich, long-lasting flavour. The powerful Moorland Tomme is made to a French recipe but is firmer with a nutty, slightly sweet flavour. The Botton Gouda will dispel all thoughts of mass-produced Gouda – a supple, full-flavoured cheese while Summerfield’s Alpine, is a Gruyere-style cheese, using only the milk from cows that have grazed on summer pastures in the Botton community. Both Dale End and Summerfields are award-winning cheeses having won gold at the World Cheese Awards.
Botton cheeses are made in small batches so demand invariably outstrips supply but you can buy direct from the Botton Village store or online via the Camphill Village Trust website. We sell our Botton Cheese primarily to the wholesale market. If you would like to stock the cheese in your shop or restaurant then please contact the Creamery botton.creamery@cvt.org.uk.