About the farm

As a family we have been farming on the South Downs for 4 generations. Originally from Cornwall, the Gribbles moved lock, stock and barrel to Kent in the 1890’s and to Sussex in the 1910’s, bringing all their livestock with them on the train. Great Grandfather William Gribble started to farm on the Firle Estate in the late 1920’s where we continue today, with us being the 4th generation.

The farms main enterprises are dairying, sheep and growing arable crops (a mixture of maize, wheat, barley, oats and beans). We have a mixture of grassland, ranging from extensive downland to lush pastures for our dairy cows to graze upon.

We are firm believers in farming in harmony with our landscape. Our farm has been in environmental schemes since they were introduced in the 1980’s. This has lead to an abundance of chalk downland flowers; pyramidal orchids, cowslips, lady’s bedstraw, wild basil, wild strawberries and round headed rampion (known as the Pride of Sussex) to name just a few.  We also boast a huge and varied number of birds of which many are on the ‘red-list species’ (such as corn buntings, linnets, cuckoos, yellow hammer and sky larks) as well as bigger species like kestrels, buzzards and the occasional red kite.