The Crumplebury Story

Our Story

The Crumplebury story began with Green Cow Kitchens in 2012

Having long dreamed of owning their own restaurant, Joe and Keeley were yet to be convinced that people would travel a mile and a half down a bumpy country lane for dinner in an old pigsty, however delicious the food or charming service. They launched Green Cow, as a pop-up restaurant, inviting friends and neighbours to trial the experience. Guests were seated around a giant table, dressed with white linen, Granny’s hand-picked flowers and Joe and Keeley’s wedding candelabras. Each pop-up sold out and gradually the names on the booking form were not ones that they recognised. As Green Cow developed a loyal and regular following, so the pop-up evenings grew in frequency and demand.

After 6 months of welcoming diners into the shire, Green Cow was close to the annual limit for pop-up events. It was decision time. Joe and Keeley submitted an application to formally become a restaurant. With a licence to serve alcohol, guests would no longer need to bring white wine in cool boxes. For opening, the couple selected a house red, a house white and a house rosé. These three bottles still feature among the 100 or more bins on our wine list today. The space was refurbished, a central partition wall removed, the log burner re-located, solid oak floors and doors added, a small bar with reclaimed estate timber created and new ramped access provided.

Beautifully refreshed, our pigsty still made an unlikely venue for an intimate, fine-dining experience and with this came an element of charm. Glamorous guests in their glamorous vehicles would arrive at our tired farmyard with its tumble down out-buildings and breath a sigh of relief as they were greeted with a warm smile and guided into our cosy dining room.

Green Cow Kitchens grew in popularity and we were soon welcoming guests from far and wide. We proudly held the number one spot on TripAdvisor for three years and in 2016, we were awarded Best Restaurant in Herefordshire. We ambitiously hosted a number of large celebrations, by pitching up marquees in the field adjacent to the restaurant, but found that we were not able to look after guests as attentively as we would have loved. One small toilet was barely enough for thirty diners, let alone 150 revellers. With an increasing number of requests for events, the idea of Crumplebury was born.

In 2016, Joe and Keeley appointed Glazzards Architects in Worcester. The build commenced in October 2018 and with the exception of a brief closure in July, Green Cow Kitchens continued to welcome loyal diners throughout the construction. For a while, guests would wear wellies from the car park and change into shoes before entering the dining room. The build finished in November 2019 and Crumplebury was officially opened with a fabulous launch party on 9th November.

Crumplebury

European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development

Supporting in the project costs to construct Crumplebury.

The Whitbourne Estate Story

Edward Evans (1788-1871), a Welsh chemist and William Hill, a Wesleyan Methodist were vinegar makers. In 1829, they acquired Cowell, Crane and Kilpin, a British Wine manufacturer in Worcester. They founded the Worcester firm, Hill and Evans and by 1830 had branched out into the production of vinegar.

By 1848, Thomas Rowley Hill and Edward Bickerton Evans (1819 – 1893) had joined their fathers in partnership. The firm grew rapidly at this time. In 1852, Hill Evans produced 426,546 gallons of vinegar. By 1858, this number had jumped to 1,048,229 gallons. In 1859, 1,208,600 gallons were produced and Hill Evans became the largest manufacturer of vinegar in Britain. By 1903, the Vinegar works had become the biggest in the world. It remained in business until 1967 when traditional methods of manufacture were superseded and the company was sold.

In 1860, Edward Bickerton purchased 9 of the 13 holdings (with over 20 acres) in Whitbourne. Land bought in adjoining parishes made his new estate over 3,000 acres in size. Whitbourne Hall was built and the garden landscaped between 1860 and 1862 with profits from the Worcester business interests. It is perhaps unsurprising that Edward Bickerton’s fine new house was sometimes referred to locally as ‘Vinegar Hall’.

After Edward Evans’s death in 1893 his widow Margaret lived at Whitbourne Hall with a small household staff until her death in 1909. Her grandson Edward Francis Herbert Evans inherited the house. During his absence, serving in the First World War, his wife Francis (Fanny) kept the house running and after his death in 1958 continued to live there with her son Edward Somers Fleming Evans and his wife Erica.

By this time, the estate was dependent on income from farming and forestry, which owe much to Edward Somers planting oak and mixed woodland. Whitbourne Hall changed remarkably little during this period, apart from the abandonment of the conservatory during WW2, when it proved too expensive to heat. Whitbourne Hall was now far too big to manage without the household staff of earlier times. Edward and Erica Evans built a new home beside the lake, and moved into it in 1977.

In 1980 Whitbourne Hall Community Limited obtained planning permission to convert part of the Hall into apartments, and purchased Whitbourne Hall from the Evans family.

When Edward Somers retired from running the estate, his eldest son Edward William took over. Edward William (Bill) and his wife Julia ran the estate and home farm for three decades, with a keen focus on farming and forestry.

In September 2011, Bill’s son Edward Joseph (Joe) and his family returned from a career abroad to take over the management of the estate. The focus on organic farming and high quality forestry continues.

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