Our Story

Thyme at Southrop is firmly rooted in the land. All we do is inspired by our love of our countryside and its rich culinary & agricultural traditions.

Thyme at Southrop is one element in the overall project to restore the disparate elements of the Southrop Manor Estate to the unity it once was.  The school is one of a number of businesses that fill the various restored buildings on the Estate, now a mix of farmland, stables, offices for local businesses, luxury cottages and Thyme at Southrop.  The Food School is the lynchpin that holds it all together.  The concept for the school was born from owner Caryn Hibbert's absolute love of the naturally beautiful surroundings and the fertile countryside, her joy in entertaining and her desire to create an enterprise with local relevance, taking advantage of Gloucestershire's rich agricultural and culinary traditions.

The idea behind Thyme at Southrop was to create a Food School that celebrates the love of the land in all its glories, teaching a culinary philosophy that develops skills that extend beyond cooking – to sow, grow, pick, cook, serve, drink, eat – and supports sensible and sustainable methods of food production, with a strong emphasis on the local.  

More than a cookery school, Thyme at Southrop aims to tell the whole story of food, its journey from source to production, through to preparation and finally to the pleasure of serving, eating and drinking.  Bringing this objective to life will be a team of visiting chefs and experts, working hand in hand with the in-house chefs, as well as the local producers, craftspeople, foragers and growers in the vicinity. We offer a range of hands-on cooking classes, gardening courses, cookery demonstrations, visits to local gardens and farms, and a series of talks and lectures. 

As far as we know, Thyme at Southrop is the only Food School to retain its own Farming Advisor - Charles Phillips' role is to share his expertise and wisdom on acceptable farming practice and food production. Charles is a respected and experienced farmer and estate manager with arable and livestock, farmed organically and non-organically.  Charles will attend many of the classes in the 'For the Love of the Land' series.

THE RESTORATION OF SOUTHROP MANOR ESTATE

Southrop Manor is a Cotswold Grade II* Listed Manor House situated in the village of Southrop near Lechlade and Fairford, Gloucestershire, in an officially designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. It was bought by the Hibbert family in 2002.  At the time of the sale, the Manor had become separated from its working barns.  The barns were acquired and it became apparent that these buildings were integral to the running of the Manor. Restoring and finding new economically viable uses for them has ensured their long term survival.  The restoration project was a diverse scheme with one aim – to produce a viable, working estate providing beautifully, restored, working buildings with a range of uses, supported by the land yielding produce for their benefit. The project was completed in October 2009 and received an award from the CPRE for “the establishment of economic viability for these important buildings in the centre of Southrop, and carrying out the scheme with exemplary attention to the quality of detailing and craftsmanship.”The re-united Estate now comprises:
The Manor
The Ox House (housing horses, plus two cottages)
The Granary and Piggeries (now offices)
The Tallet and the Dairy (now cottages)
The Tithe Barn (Thyme at Southrop Food School)
The village pub (The Swan)
Other assorted buildings
140 acres of farmed land

THE TITHE BARN

The project culminated in the restoration of the grand Tithe Barn and the establishment of Thyme at Southrop early in 2010. The barn renovation was challenged by the need to marry the standards legislated by Building Regulations with the retention of historic and aesthetic needs of a listed building. Much attention was given to insulation and the ‘sealing of the envelope’, which was achieved by introducing revolutionary and environmentally friendly hidden ventilation and underfloor heating systems, which do not ruin the aesthetics of the barn and produce no local emissions; ‘green’ electricity can be used.In the process of this development other activities were necessary to meet the requirements of conservation. A bat survey led to the discovery of one bat, and a hibernaculum and a roof roost were built, to mitigate for the loss of habitat.  Archaeological surveys were performed with several artefacts being donated to a museum.

THE KITCHENS

The attention to quality can be seen throughout the school, from the exceptional materials used to restore the building to the design of the highly contemporary, sleek Bulthaup kitchens with their Wolf ranges and Sub-Zero fridges, and drawers stocked full with Fissler pans, Staub ovenware, Henckels knives and general kitchen equipment. Designed to be interactive and very social, course participants work in pairs or teams on two large islands. Light and airy, huge picture windows along two sides slide open in the summer to allow easy access to the gardens. A Bulthaup demonstration bench with plasma screens is set up in the main barn and a separate tasting room is available for sampling produce and specialist classes.

THE GARDENS

The Tithe Barn and kitchens overlook a vegetable and herb garden, designed by Bunny Guinness, featuring six different varieties of thyme, mature olive trees and raised vegetable beds.  During the summer, meals can be taken outside, at long communal tables. The Estate’s existing kitchen garden will be added to in future with further fields close to the school, enabling the school to increase the amount of its own produce.