Community Assembly of FV Manor Farm

The Community Assembly of FV Manor Farm is located on a manorial estate of Frome Vauchurch which dates back to 1446. The tiny parish church of St Francis of Assisi, directly below the farmhouse, is Norman. The original manor house was situated in Pond Mead but little remains. The current farmhouse, which is higher up the valley, was built in about 1830 for a younger son of the Sheridans of Frampton Court, who owned most of the land around Maiden Newton at that time.

Oscar and Lily Crocker moved to the farm in the 1930’s as tenant farmers, and then bought the farm as sitting tenants in 1941. Since then the farm has remained in the family. The land and farm cottages were split up following the death of Oscar in 1973. Alison's stepfather, Brian, died in 1980 and her mother lived and farmed here until her death in 2013.

Alison and James moved into the farm house in 1994, at Alison's mother’s invitation, and they have been running the farm since 2010. The land currently is about 150 acres; consisting of 80 acres of arable and grazing land surrounding the house with 70 acres of pasture and water meadows lower down the valley nearer the village of Maiden Newton. The river Frome, an ancient chalk stream, runs through the water meadows which are used to graze young dairy cows from April to the end of October. Small paddocks near the house are grazed by sheep.