Hand-Selected Berkswell

You may have already heard the sad news that the Fletcher family have made the difficult decision to cease making Berkswell cheese. 

We are honoured to be able to offer you the last cheeses made at Ram Hall dairy. 

This beautiful cheese was a cornerstone of the artisan British cheese renaissance; and it has held a cherished place on our shelves at The Fine Cheese Co. for over 30 years.

Berkswell has been more than just a cheese to us. It has been a piece of our history and a shining example of our founder Ann-Marie's passion for exceptional sheep's milk cheeses. She was an early supporter of Sheila Fletcher and afterwards of her son Stephen. 

Over the years, we have been lucky enough to establish a happy relationship with this remarkable family, and we had hoped to continue enjoying Berkswell from Stephen and his son George for years to come, but the Fletchers have decided that the time has come to move on to a new chapter in their family story. 

Stephen’s life has been dedicated to making his flock the best it could possibly be and ensuring that their milk was of the highest quality for cheesemaking. He has happily ensured that this legacy will continue by finding a new home for them at Sheaf House Farm in the Cotswolds. The cheesemaking baton is being passed on to David Jowett, whose own cheesemaking career began at Ram Hall over a decade ago. David will create a new cheese using the milk from Stephen's sheep.

The family will soon be leaving the farm that has been their home since 1881. Over the next few weeks, their remaining cheeses will be moved from their maturing room to ours, where we will continue to look after them as carefully as they did. We are privileged indeed to provide a last home for these cheeses and to be able to offer them to you; a slice of cheesemaking history, a culmination of years of hard work, and more simply, a delicious piece of cheese for you to savour. 

*A whole Berkswell weighs approximately 2.5kg. Smaller weights are a cut of a whole cheese.