Information

About

  • Hammiton Farm is run by Louise and Charles.

    Louise’s family have been farming since the 1200s whilst Charles is an ex Royal Navy submariner learning on the job.

    We both have a passion for the British countryside and for protecting the environment. Ever since we met at university in the 1990s, where Charles was studying climate change, we have been working towards taking on our own farm.

    Our ambition is to do our bit to make our bit a bit better by proving it is possible for a small farm to be economically viable whilst producing food in a genuinely sustainable way.

    We were privileged to became the latest stewards of Hammiton Farm in 2019.

  • Hammiton Farm is small, just 90 acres, and used to be a tenanted dairy farm and part of the larger Sturthill Estate. Like many similar farming estates Sturthill gradually fragmented during the late 20th Century with Hammiton Farm becoming independent in the 1980s.

    The farm is named after Hammiton Hill, where our cows spend most of their time. It is believed the name Hammiton has evolved from the ancient “Hammer-Dun” meaning Hammer’s Fort.

    There are reminders of the farm’s long history everywhere. A bronze age bowl barrow stands sentinel at the summit of Hammiton Hill where we like to believe that Hammer continues to keep an eye on what we are doing with his land. Whilst Chapel Copse reminds us that some of our fields used to be the now long gone village of Sterte, rumoured to be one of the first villages abandoned in England when the Black Death arrived in nearby Weymouth in 1348.

Product Information

  • The meat in our Light Beef boxes is delivered chilled. When the time comes our cattle are transported directly by us to our local abattoir, from there to our local butcher where the carcass will hang until ready for cutting. Our trusted and vastly experienced local butcher then cuts the carcass into the various joints and steaks which are immediately vacuum packed in order to protect them for their journey and make it easy for you to freeze them at home. The next day the meat is divided into the different boxes and they are out the door and on their way to you. If deliveries go to plan the meat will therefore be with you 2 days after cutting.

    Cows do not divide into exactly the same amount of meat every time so we will sometimes have some meat left over which we may freeze to extend its shelf life. We may then offer this frozen meat for sale as part of special “Extra Helping” meat boxes. We will always make it explicitly clear if the meat you are buying has been frozen or will be delivered frozen. Our standard meat boxes are always chilled.

  • No two cows are identical and will never divide into exactly the same size and shape of meat. When you have as few cows as we do it is even more difficult to iron out those differences when it comes to distribution.

    Therefore the cuts of meat you receive in your meat box may not be exactly the same as described on our website.

    You will always get the same mixture of joints and steaks as described but they may not be exactly the same cut as described.

    We will do everything we can to match the contents to the website description and most of the time they will be the same but every now and again there will be differences.

    If it is important that you get a particular cut in your box please get in touch and we will do our best to help.

    You will always get at least the total weight of meat in the box as described.

    We absolutely guarantee that all meat in our Light Beef meat boxes comes from our own cows from our own genuinely carbon negative farm.

  • As a small family farm managed in a very low intensity way our products are extremely limited. We endeavour to keep our website up to date but it is possible that our stocks have run low. If we are unable to fulfil your order we will contact you to offer either a refund or an alternative.

Delivery Information

  • The special way in which we manage our cattle in order to be genuinely carbon negative means that they all remain enjoying our pastures until the land can no longer support them in late October. As we support our small local abattoirs and butchers the next stage of the process then takes place in small batches throughout November to create our Light Beef.

    We encourage you to purchase your meat box as soon as possible as our Light Beef is small batch and very limited but please be aware that it will not be available for delivery until mid/late November, or maybe even early December.

  • Once we know how many meat boxes have been reserved and how our land and cattle have progressed through the summer we will be in a position to plan for slaughter and butchery.

    If you have purchased your meat box early we will email you on or around 20 September confirming your delivery date. This delivery date will be in November or December and will most likely be on a Wednesday.

    Unfortunately it is not possible for you to choose your own delivery date. When you are working with a small number of animals and delivering fresh produce everything is driven by the set timelines between slaughter and butchery and by food safety legislation.

    If you are unable to accept the planned delivery date you will be able to claim a refund in accordance with our refund policy.

  • Nationwide deliveries will be made by our chosen delivery partner and they will provide you with tracking details once we have handed over your meat box to them. These deliveries will be made on the next day which, combined with our environmentally friendly insulated packaging, ensures that your meat will remain chilled until it reaches you.

    Please note that any reference to “overnight” or “next day” refers to the timescale between us handing over the meat box to our courier and their delivery to you. It does not mean that you will receive your meat box the next day from order, payment or any other point.

    To remain genuinely carbon negative we can only deliver in England and Wales.

  • We will make local deliveries in person in our own vehicle. This saves you money and us all carbon. As such local deliveries will not have the advanced tracking features that come with large courier companies. It is therefore important that we have correct contact details in case we can’t find you when we are making deliveries.

  • Our meat is delivered chilled in specially insulated boxes and will arrive at the correct temperature to be safely put into your fridge or freezer. As the contents are perishable, however, the courier is not able to attempt re-delivery and must leave it in your nominated safe place if you are not available.

    The courier will not keep your meat box on the van, return it to their depot or return it to us. It is therefore incredibly important that you provide suitable instructions should you not be in to take delivery. You are responsible for making suitable arrangements to receive your delivery and for giving us appropriate instructions.

    If nobody is available at the primary delivery address (nominated by you at the time you place your order) to take delivery of the order, we will leave notification of the delivery to your safe place (nominated by you at the time you place your order).

    In the event that your delivery is stolen from your doorstep or safe place or damaged while there, we do not accept liability, and will only offer compensation at our discretion.

    If your delivery is refused or not accepted at a recipient’s address, we will not take responsibility for this and will not offer a free replacement or a refund.

    We have selected the courier with the best track record for delivering perishable items. However, if we are unable to deliver to you, or have to deliver late, for reasons beyond our control, for example adverse weather conditions, strike actions, vehicle breakdown, traffic congestion or supplier failure, we cannot accept liability for any inconvenience or loss that this causes.

  • We of course work in accordance with all UK Distance Selling and Food Standards Agency regulations. Please be aware that due to the perishable nature of our meat boxes you do not have the right to return them under these regulations.

    You must inspect the products as soon as possible after delivery and notify us promptly if you find any defects, by calling us, emailing us or writing to us at the telephone number or address shown on our website or emails. In the event the products do not meet your expectations or you are in any way dissatisfied, we may in our absolute discretion offer you a credit note or refund.

  • Honey is delivered via Royal Mail who will provide you with a tracking number once we have dropped your honey off at the Post Office.
    Please be aware that as a small family farm we tend to only do a post run once a week.

Refund Policy

  • We must receive written confirmation (email is of course fine) if you wish to cancel your order and receive a refund. We make non-reversible decisions on slaughter and butchery based on orders received so have a staggered refund policy on all meat box orders.

    For cancellations received before the end of September we will refund the value of that meat box order including any delivery charges in full. If you have ordered your meat box much earlier in the year we will send you an email reminder at least a week before the end of September confirming your delivery date. This will give you the opportunity to cancel your order at no cost if the confirmed delivery date doesn’t work for you.

    For cancellations received during October we will retain 20% of the total value of the meat box order and refund the remaining 80%. We will refund 100% of any delivery charges. This is because we will have already taken non-reversible actions based on your order.

    We will not refund any orders cancelled in November. Animals will have been slaughtered to fulfil your order.

  • We work incredibly hard to make sure our products are the best they can be and hope that you enjoy them, however if you are dissatisfied please contact us. We are real people doing our best to run a small farm not a faceless corporation or soulless chatbot, please communicate respectfully with us and we will do our best to help.

    Due to their perishable nature we do not accept returns of meat, but retain the right to issue a refund or replacement at our discretion.

    If you wish to return any unopened, undamaged jars of honey to us for a refund you will need to pay the postage. We will not refund the cost of that return postage.

    Please contact us within 24hrs of delivery with images detailing the issue.

    Please be aware that due to the perishable nature of our meat boxes you do not have the automatic right to return them under the UK distance selling regulations.

Privacy Policy & Legal

  • We won’t spam you. We find it incredibly frustrating when others do it to us and quite frankly we have neither the time nor the inclination to add to the problem.

    We hope you will want to keep up to date with our progress but believe you’ll do this by following us on social media so we won’t be pestering you via other channels.

    We ask for your address, email and telephone number to manage your order. We will never use these to contact you except to progress and manage your order.

    We will never share your details with any third-party; except where necessary for deliveries, conflict resolution or as required by law.

    We have built our website using SquareSpace. They will process your data during the shopping process.

    If you want to know what of your information we hold please contact us.

  • The materials (text, images, videos, etc.) published on our site are, unless otherwise stated, our intellectual property. All content is protected by international copyright laws. If you would like to use any of our content, you must discuss this with us.

  • Hammiton Farm is managed by our family partnership Hammiton LLP.

    Registered in England - Company Number: OC428558

    VAT Registration Number: 332482514

    Registered Address: Hammiton Farm, Icen Lane, Shipton Gorge, Dorset. DT6 4PP

Contact Us

If you have any questions please don’t hesitate to get in touch: