The creamery in Hartington was first established by the Duke of Devonshire in the 1870's, and produced the white crumbly Derbyshire cheese until it was partially destroyed by fire in 1894. After standing empty for six years it was taken over and reinstated in 1900 by Thomas Nuttall, a prize-winning Stilton cheese-maker from Melton Mowbray, who began producing Blue Stilton at Hartington, a business which was later carried on and expanded by his son, John M. Nuttall. It was John Nuttall who held a warrant to supply Stilton to King George V, and also during the 1920’s a far-sighted regulation – a Certification Trade Mark – confined the legal production of Blue Stilton to the three neighbouring counties of Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire.
Cheese making production re-started in the Parish of
Hartington in late Autumn 2012.
A dynamic and entrepreneurial group have set up a company called the
Hartington Creamery and have found some suitable barns in the Parish
of Hartington which have been converted to a small scale "artisan"
cheese factory.
The five founding individuals were passionate about cheese making
and reinstated cheese production in Hartington and the county of
Derbyshire as there were no cheese factories operating in the County
since the closure of the Hartington Dairy in May 2009.
Two of the team were renowned cheese makers, two were the owners of the Hartington Cheese Shop and the fifth and final one was Simon, proprietor of the Cheese Factor in Chesterfield.
Ownership has subsequently changed, to include the owner of the site on which the creamery is based.
For more information keep watching this space or ring/email The Cheese Factor (asking for Simon).
SupportThis exciting venture has been supported through the LEADER programme in the Peak District Rural Action Zone, part of the Rural Development Programme for England, which is jointly funded by Defra and the European Union, and is delivered by the Derbyshire Economic Partnership.
