Lockley Farm

Just outside the village of Welwyn in Hertfordshire, Lockley Farm can trace its history back over 200 years, when it emerged from Lockleys Park within Lockleys Estate to meet a growing need for food production. Today, the family running the farm are looking to balance this history with the present and future needs of the land and people.

Lockley’s ethos is all about looking to grow crops that have a lighter impact on the environment and better feed nearby communities. It’s an exciting moment of major change for the farm team, as they find ways to produce more products that can be sold locally – while expanding stewardship across the whole site.

So far, they’ve replaced rows of cereal crops with lines of vines growing grapes for Lokkelebery wine, while two small orchards provide the apples for locally sold juice. The bees active on the land supply Beekind honey and beeswax – which is combined with mineral oil to create a protective layer for Lokkelebery Charcuterie Boards. Each board is unique, shaped with a live edge from trees in the farm’s ancient woodland that have been felled by storms.

Pausing arable crop rotation as part of the Sustainable Farming Incentive means the land has “time to breathe” while the Lockley team explores new cropping options – including heritage grains and flax, with the potential for increased pasture for grazing. The team are also looking to bring the ancient woodlands back into regular management. It’s a great time to explore other options and bring new enterprises onto the land through Pitch Up!

Lockley is part of the UK government’s Countryside Stewardship scheme and the Mimram River Catchment Cluster; a small stretch of the Mimram River chalk stream runs through the farm.

Not far from London, with good transport connections, Lockley’s 17th century barns and varied landscapes have also attracted film and photoshoot scouts, providing staging for TV shows and fashion shoots.

The vineyard, planted in 2022, launches its first Lokkelebery bottles in 2026: the Lokkelebery Pink – a 100% pinot noir vintage. Each vintage is nature-led, influenced by the terroir and growing conditions, so every future bottle will be different. The vineyard also hosts events through the summer and a vineyard shop is opening soon.

• Timber: for wood working, carpentry, construction, charcoal-making and burning
• Grapes
• Apples (eventually pears too)
• In the future, possibly heritage grains for milling/ baking and flax for natural fibre products

Hannah Buisman is a second generation family farmer at Lockley. She works with her partner Zack on leading the transformation of the arable farming business into a mixed farming holding where land stewardship is central.

Hannah studied Modern Languages and Cultures at Durham University and spent over nine years working in luxury goods and events, viticulture, agriculture and arts. Alongside the farm, she manages the Lokkelebery vineyard and the vineyard business activities, covering viticulture operations, marketing, events organisation, website development and business strategy. She’s also an NFU ambassador.

Lokkelebery Vineyard – lokkelebery.co.uk / @lokkelebery_vineyard

Nature-led winemaking, established by farmers – with one-off vintages to celebrate every season

Beekind Honey & Wax – beekindhoneyandwax.co.uk

The sweet taste of nature, supporting sustainable beekeeping in the community