This guide compares five Cumbria farm shops spread across the county: Tebay Services Farmshop at Orton beside the M6, Owen’s Farm Shop at Kirkby Stephen in the Eden valley, Lakeland Farm Visitor Centre at Ings near Windermere, Low Sizergh Barn south of Kendal, and Brookfield Farm at Haverigg near Millom. Each is linked to a working farm, so the useful question is which shop has the food you need, and where it was grown.
As a Londoner, I know it is not realistic for everyone to live on a farm. A farm shop, farmers' market or community garden can be part of a more direct food routine. Start with a reachable stop and a short list, rather than expecting to change everything at once.
Which farm shop or picking farm should you choose?
Cumbria is a big county, so where you start matters. Tebay and Owen’s both sit in the upper Eden and Lune country: Tebay is a quick stop off the M6 with a large butchery counter, while Owen’s at Kirkby Stephen is a smaller farm café and shop. Lakeland Farm Visitor Centre lies on the A591 between Windermere and Staveley, and Low Sizergh Barn is just off the A590 south of Kendal. Brookfield Farm, on the Duddon estuary at Haverigg, serves the south-west coast around Millom.
For home-reared meat, Tebay, Owen’s and Lakeland Farm Visitor Centre have the clearest farm link. For organic milk and farm-grown vegetables, try Low Sizergh Barn. For potatoes at almost any hour, Brookfield’s honesty shop opens from early morning to late evening. We could not verify a currently trading farm shop with its own website in the Carlisle area for this update.
Check the farm’s current crops, opening times and prices before travelling. Picking seasons vary, and a farm shop may sell produce without offering pick-your-own visits.
- Tebay Services Farmshop , A Westmorland hill farm’s shop since 1972
- Owen’s Farm Shop , Sandwath Farm meat at Kirkby Stephen
- Lakeland Farm Visitor Centre , Herdwick sheep farmers near Windermere
- Low Sizergh Barn , An organic dairy farm south of Kendal
- Brookfield Farm , Haverigg potato growers for 30 years
Tebay Services Farmshop
Map and location
Westmorland Limited, Westmorland Place, Orton, Penrith, Cumbria CA10 3SB. View Tebay Services Farmshop on the map.
Contact: 015396 24511.
Chapel Farm beef and lamb beside the M6
Tebay Services is a motorway services owned by a Cumbrian farming family. John and Barbara Dunning opened it in 1972 after the M6 was built through their farm. Chapel Farm, on which the services stand, is a 1,000-acre holding between Tebay and Orton, now within the Westmorland Dales. The farm rears lamb, Herdwick mutton and native-breed beef, with a flock of around 500 sheep. Their elder daughter, Jane Lane, leads the farming, working with farm manager Sion Morgan and assistant farm manager Rosie Sampson.
At the heart of the farmshop is a butchers’ counter selling beef, lamb and Herdwick mutton from the farm a mile away, plus hand-pressed burgers, Cumberland sausages made with Cumbrian pork, free-range poultry and seasonal game. The butchers practise whole-animal butchery and will cut to order. The shop works with more than 70 producers within 30 miles and has deli and cheese counters and a kitchen serving home-reared beef and lamb.
Visiting and buying
The website lists the farmshop as open 7.15am to 10.45pm, and the butchery 7.15am to 6pm, though the butchers’ counter section gives 8am to 6pm, so check if you need a particular cut. The kitchen at Tebay North opens 7.30am to 9pm and at Tebay South 6am to 8pm. Parking is free for three hours. The services are at junction 38 of the M6, with buildings on both carriageways. Ask the butchers which cuts are from Chapel Farm.
Tebay Services Farmshop: website and opening hours.
Owen’s Farm Shop
Map and location
Sandwath Farm, Kirkby Stephen, CA17 4HE. View Owen’s Farm Shop on the map.
Contact: 017684 23016.
Home-reared beef, lamb and pork at Sandwath
Rob and Jill Owen have farmed at Sandwath Farm, Kirkby Stephen, since 2014. Both come from local farming families, and their website says the farm shop and café were a way to diversify and sell their own beef, lamb, pork and bacon direct to customers, while sharing the farm’s setting in the upper Eden valley. Cuts such as pork steaks, pork chops and lamb steaks are also listed in the farm’s online shop.
The shop labels its stock with ‘Sandwath Miles’ stickers: green for home produced, blue for within 10 miles and orange for within 25 miles. Named suppliers include Appleby Creamery, Love Ewe Dairy, Ivy Cottage Baker, Bridge Street Bakes and Northern Pasta, alongside cards, glass and soaps from local makers. The café serves breakfasts, soup, quiche, burgers, pies, cakes and ice cream.
Visiting and buying
The website says the shop is closed on Mondays and open Tuesday to Sunday. The home page gives 9am to 5pm, with food served 9am to 4pm, while other pages give 9am to 4pm, so allow for the earlier closing time or ring ahead. Use the postcode CA17 4HE or the what3words address on the website to find the farm. The green stickers are the easiest way to see what Sandwath produces itself.
Owen’s Farm Shop: website and opening hours.
Lakeland Farm Visitor Centre
Map and location
Lakeland Farm Visitor Centre, Meadow Bank Farm, Ings, Kendal, LA8 9QF. View Lakeland Farm Visitor Centre on the map.
Contact: 01539 324846.
Third-generation Herdwick breeders with their own butchers
Lakeland Farm Visitor Centre is run by Kerrie and Isaac and their family, who describe themselves as third-generation Lakeland farmers. Their farm is in Great Langdale, where they have bred award-winning Herdwick sheep for many years, and they keep a herd of beef cattle that also supply butchers across northern England. The centre at Ings explains how farming has shaped the Lake District landscape, with a daily livestock show in the farm arena that includes a one-tonne bull.
The butchers’ counter sells Herdwick lamb and farm-reared beef from the family farm, with other meat from chosen local suppliers, plus BBQ packs and ‘Meat for a Week’ packs. The farm shop stocks Lake District goods from producers such as Hawkshead Brewery, Fell Brewery, Lakes Brew Co, Kendal Soap Co and Cumbrian Delights. The Lakeland Farm Kitchen uses ingredients from the farm.
Visiting and buying
The website gives the butchers and farm shop as open Tuesday to Sunday, 8.30am to 4pm, and the Lakeland Farm Kitchen 10am to 4pm, with hot food until 3pm. A later collection of butchers’ orders can be arranged on request, and the kitchen also opens on Saturday and Sunday evenings. Parking is free and dogs are not allowed inside. The centre is on the A591 between Windermere and Staveley, opposite the petrol station at Ings.
Lakeland Farm Visitor Centre: website and opening hours.
Low Sizergh Barn
Map and location
Low Sizergh Barn, Sizergh, Kendal, LA8 8AE. View Low Sizergh Barn on the map.
Contact: 01539 560426.
Organic milk and farm-grown vegetables at Sizergh
Low Sizergh Barn says there has been a farm on the site since the 13th century, when it supplied food to the castle across the fields. The Park family are tenant farmers, and the business now spans three generations: Alison runs the shop, gallery and café, while her brother Richard runs the farm with his son Matthew. The herd produces organic raw milk, most of which goes to the Organic Herd co-operative, and organic vegetables are grown on site by the charity Growing Well.
The farm shop acts as a marketplace for more than 80 local suppliers, selling bread, cheese, beer, chutney and Growing Well’s vegetables, with a deli counter for takeaway food. Raw milk from the farm is sold from a vending machine. The café serves breakfasts, lunches made from scratch and cakes, and its gallery windows look down on the milking parlour.
Visiting and buying
The website says the farm shop is open daily, 9am to 5.30pm, and the café 9am to 5pm, with last hot food at 4.30pm. It is closed on Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year’s Day. Milking starts at 3.30pm daily, so time a late visit to watch from the café. The farm is just off the A590 south of Kendal, near Sizergh Castle. Ask which vegetables are from Growing Well that week.
Low Sizergh Barn: website and opening hours.
Brookfield Farm
Map and location
Brookfield Farm, Haverigg, Millom. View Brookfield Farm on the map.
Contact: 07850 113376.
A Phillips family potato farm with honesty shop
Brookfield Farm at Haverigg, near Millom on the south-west coast, is run by A & J Phillips & Sons, who say they have been growing potatoes for more than 30 years. As well as selling direct to the public, they supply potatoes wholesale to care homes, chip shops, pubs, restaurants, shops and ice cream parlours. Home-grown lines listed on the website include potatoes in 12.5kg and 25kg bags, scraped new potatoes and pumpkins in season.
The farm runs an honesty shop, and its website also offers ordering online. Alongside the farm’s own potatoes it lists meat from Crakeside Meat Company, Cumberland sausage from Bewley’s, dairy from Longley Farm, bread and Botham’s plum bread, preserves from Mrs Darlington’s, Cumbrian Coffee and Cumbria Tea, plus bedding plants, compost and Christmas trees.
Visiting and buying
The website says the honesty shop is open every day of the year, 7.30am to 9pm. It does not publish a full postal address, so phone 07850 113376 or check the map on the contact page before setting off. Haverigg is on the Duddon estuary just west of Millom, at the southern end of the west coast. As it is an honesty shop, take cash or check how to pay. Potatoes and pumpkins are the farm’s own; ask about the rest.
Brookfield Farm: website and opening hours.
Knowing a farm shop you can return to is also one of the most practical ways to be ready for disruption. Read The Be Ready Campaign: A UK Guide to Stocking Your Home With Healthy, Local Food, and use the Be Ready Map to find more local food across the UK.
Plan your farm visit, produce, quantities and picking dates
Choose one or two farms or farm shops that fit your route. Write down what you want, how much you need and what you will do with it when you get home. If one crop is unavailable, decide whether to choose a different farm, change the meal or return another day.
- Confirm the crop, public opening and any booking requirement.
- Ask whether you can pick yourself or buy already picked.
- Check the price unit, payment method and containers.
- Ask about access, parking and the correct visitor entrance.
Farm shop and fruit-picking questions
Where can I buy local food in Cumbria?
Good farm shops in Cumbria include Tebay Services Farmshop at junction 38 of the M6, Owen’s Farm Shop at Kirkby Stephen, Lakeland Farm Visitor Centre at Ings, Low Sizergh Barn near Kendal and Brookfield Farm at Haverigg near Millom.
Are all these farms in the same town?
No. Cumbria covers a wide area, and this guide spreads its choices across the county. Each farm section gives its location so you can compare the journey before you set off.
Can I pick at every farm or market?
No. Farm shops and markets may sell ready-picked food without opening fields to visitors. Ask the individual business about picking access, the crop and any booking requirement.
Plan your farm shopping with My Shopping List and Harvest Checker
Open My Shopping List to record produce, quantities and estimated costs. Mark items as bought when you collect them and keep the plan for your next trip.
Use Harvest Checker after a grower gives you a picking window. Enter those dates and compare them with your visit date. The tool uses your entries; it does not fetch live availability from farms.
My Shopping List
Keep the produce you actually need in one place before you set off.
Use My Shopping ListHarvest Checker
Compare your visit with dates confirmed by the grower. This does not check live stock.
Use Harvest CheckerUse the tools with your My Ideal World account. Guest and free-account limits apply; paid members have unlimited tool access.
Explore more farm shops and picking farms in My Ideal World. Browse the Farm Shops app below or beside this article, then check the grower’s current crop and opening before visiting.
Sources
- Tebay Services , Farm page
- Tebay Services , Farmshop page
- Tebay Services , Visit and opening hours
- Owen’s Farm Shop , official website
- Owen’s Farm Shop , Farm Shop page
- Lakeland Farm Visitor Centre , Butchers page
- Low Sizergh Barn , About us
- Low Sizergh Barn , Opening times
- Brookfield Farm , About us
- Brookfield Farm , Contact us
Research reviewed 25 October 2026. Farm and visitor sources support the descriptions above. Historical information is identified where relevant; no firsthand visit, current stock check or certification is claimed.