Bashall Barn
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History

Please note our coffee shop and restaurant will remain closed indefinitely

The Bashall Story

It all started in 2001 with a farm site that was no longer viable for the new world of dairy farming and an old barn that had never had much love and attention shown to it… couple that with suddenly having to create a rural business from scratch and the two things came together at the same time.

This was the challenge and opportunity that Simon faced over 20 years ago when he came back “home” with new wife and two little ones in tow, Rebecca and Joe. A home was made on the farm and conversion of the old farm buildings began. The first thought was to convert the milk from the farm to cheese, Simon quickly realised that this wasn’t the cleverest idea, however after a trip to Low Sizergh Barn at Kendal, it gave him a great insight into a plan…build a kitchen and create a rural café and so the journey began.

       
       

Just the begining

After many years of expanding the business with coffee shop, restaurant, farm shop and visitor centre, sadly it became apparent that there was no money in selling cups of tea and scones, so Simon had to find something sustainable for the business was to survive.

2001 saw our first enquiry to hold a wedding, it was a great success, the word spread and we began to get more enquiries as people were looking for a rustic wedding venue. The idea then came that we could take a struggling business and make a success in what is a challenging location to sell food but a stunning location to get married in. So around over six years ago we started the alterations building a dedicated ceremony room and wedding suite area, then we started improving the internals altering it from the visitor centre that we envisioned and built into a wedding venue.

Continual Investment

Covid massively disrupted us along with the rest of the wedding industry but we spent the time wisely, improving all aspects of the venue ready for re-opening in June 2021. 2021 saw the closure of the restaurant and coffee shop and in Decmeber 2021 we made the difficult decision to close the farm shop permanently (the starting point of all this). This space would then be converted in to the much needed on-site guest accommodation, having gained planning permission for 14 rooms earlier in 2021, the first seven launched June 2022, with the rest to follow as demand dictates.

It’s been a long and at times very hard road from cheese to weddings but at last we’re on the right track and I see real potential in such a beautiful setting and that the family business can continue to grow and expand in the years to come.

To find out more either download our brochure or email weddings@bashallbarn.co.uk

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