the linseed farm

Our lovely friends at The Linseed Farm in Barns Green, near Horsham, West Sussex, were the inspiration for our naturally gluten-free range.

Farmer Durwin Banks had originally invited us to work with him on developing a range of gluten-free Christmas cakes, which, we have to admit, turned out rather well!  From there, the idea grew for an alternative to our wheat-flour based Original Horsham Gingerbread.

Now, all but one of our products are gluten-free and we use The Linseed Farm linseed in three of our most popular biscuits – Sussex Gingerbread Thins, Sussex Lemon Puddle Thins, and Sweet Sussex Thins – as well as the Gluten-Free Horsham Gingerbread.

What we love about working with The Linseed Farm is that we know exactly where our linseed comes from – and (in normal circumstances), we can even see small batches being ground in the mill over the press room where they produce linseed oil. There’s always a wonderful aroma as the tiny, shiny hard seeds rattle noisily through the grinder.

That’s another thing that impresses us as cooks and bakers: when it reaches our kitchens, the linseed meal is incredibly fresh. That means all the powerful nutrients that are unlocked when the seed is cracked open aren’t lost while it sits in bags on shelves for months in store or being transported. Much of the linseed currently available in the UK is imported; we are lucky that we can see ours growing on Durwin’s farm just 10 miles down the road!

Durwin and family, who come from a long family farming tradition, set up The Linseed Farm in 2000, when they decided to dedicate all their resources to growing and processing linseed into ground meal and oil to sell to the public as a healthy food source that is naturally high in omega 3. The farm is now all arable with a limited number of other crops used in the rotation.