New Media Consolidation

The new media, which helps us to keep people up to date with the distinctive work Soulton is involved in, and which makes it special, have been gathered together in one place to make life easier. 

This can be found here:

http://www.soultonhall.co.uk/soulton/social_media.html

Examples of this distinctive work include efforts to:

• Protect, care for an enhance the historic buildings we are privileged to care for;
• Have a role in our local comunity, supporting events and organisations;
• Are at the heart of a busy working farm;
• Do significant work to nurture extensive wildlife;
• Look after archaeology;
• Are working to be a greener and greener business;
• Maintain substancial gardens and home produce.



Museam of London Profile Soulton's 1556 owner

The Museam of London have profiled Rowland Hill, the owner and improver of Soulton Hall in 1556.  Details can be found here:

http://www.museumoflondon.org.uk/London-Wall/Whats-on/Galleries/medieval/People/2918/

French translation for website

Deatils about Soulton Hall have been added to our website in French; these can be found here:
http://www.soultonhall.co.uk/soulton/french.html

Major Green Investments

Major Green investment is currently being contemplated for the farming and hospitality operations running from Soulton. 

Green energy consultants were on site earlier this year to review the opportunities here, and we have since received their report, prioritising:

1. PV solar generation;
2. biomass heating, fueled by our own woodland and farm management

John and Tim attended Cereals (an annual agricultural event) last week, and schemes are currently being prepared by PV solar providers so we can consider the best approach.  The pannels are expected to go on a grain storage facility we have in the farm yard west of Soulton Hall.

The scheme will generate 25kwhp, and in braod terms should make Soulton self sufficeint in electric.

If things progress as we hope, they should be installed by April 2012.

After this, we will be seriously considering a biomass boiler which is capable of heating the entire site (Soulton Hall, Carrage House, Soulton Court, Cedar Lodge etc). 

Exciting.

Enhanced Restaurant Details

We have updated the restaurant section of our website to reflect two things:

(1) the enhanced level of our own produce we are now using following on from the arrival of Terry as a veg gardener earlier this year;

(2) the increasingly imaginative use of this and local produce by new chef Justin.


http://www.soultonhall.co.uk/dining/restaurant.html

Industry Awards Nomination

Soulton has been nominated in the awards above. 

More details and voting details can be found at:

www.the-wedding-industry-awards.co.uk/2012/west-midlands/venue/soulton-hall

New PDF for Ploughman's Cottage

There's a new pdf for Ploughman's Cottage, it can be found here:
http://www.soultonhall.co.uk/cottages/about_ploughmans.pdf ,

or you can click on links from this page.

Home Produce Update

Photographs of home produce, taken by our Veg Gardener Terry this morning.

More about our food provenance here: http://www.soultonhall.co.uk/dining/provenance.html

Conservation Competition

 Soulton Farm is a candidate in the Campaign for the Farmed Environment/Farming and Wildlife Group competition.  


In 2009, we too second place.  More about environmental stewardship at Soulton can be found here:   
here.

New pdf for Herdsman's Cottage

Following the re-roofing and this week's departure of the painters, we have produced a pdf for Herdsman's Cottage. 

We produced a detailed pdf for Keeper's Cottage at the begining of this year, and it has proved a helpful resourse for guests. 

The Herdsman's pdf can be found here.

A Ploughman's pdf will be finished shortly.  Three new bathrooms have been installed in Shooter's Lodge, and it will be re-decorated, refurnished and recarpeted in the comming weeks.  When this is done we'll add a pdf for this cottage. 

Interactive satellite map of Soulton Estate

There's now an interactive satellite based map of the farm in Google maps.  You can find it embedded here.

It marks all of the cottages, as well as some of the footpaths, our woodland and farm boundary. 

Update: re-roofing at selected cottages completed

Ploughman's Cottage, Herdsman's Cottage and Shooter's Lodge all now have new roofs, following work completed back in March, and reported here.

At Ploughman's and Herdsman's, the aesthetic of the houses has been improved by adding gabbles to the dormer windows: the original 1890s dormers were flat.

During these works, we have added heat insulation to lower the environmental impact of these houses. 

This week decorators are undertaking routine re-painting to the exteriors. 

You can learn more about our cottages here. 

New chef: updated sample menu

Our new chef Justin's arrived a little over a month ago; (we reported his arrival here). 

Follwoing on from this, we have updated the sample menu available to download from our website, to reflect his new ideas.  

You can download the new sample menu here. The full text of the sample menu is also to be found below.  

As our regular dinners will know, the menu changes daily, but we hope this sample will give returning and new guests a good idea of our contunued use of ''so much of our own produce'' as Conde Nast Johansens recently put it.

 ========================================

SAMPLE MENU  

 Cauliflower and Shropshire Blue soup

Pressing of duck with Madeira jelly and pear chutney

Seared scallops with crushed garden peas, crispy pancetta and pea foam

Twice baked Cheshire cheese soufflé with pickled fennel and home dried tomatoes

Spinach timbales cooked to an Old English recipe

*****

Lemon sorbet with sparkling wine

*****

Roast rack of lamb with mini shepherd’s pie, baby carrots and red currant jus

Goat’s cheese ravioli, olive tapenade, roast peppers, courgette and parsley velouté

Pan fried sea bass fillet, saffron potatoes and asparagus three ways

Honey roast duck breast with dauphinoise potatoes, braised red cabbage and pan juices

Roasted sea trout with crab tortailli and samphire and shellfish foam

*****

Iced home damson parfait with damson jelly and meringue sticks

Dark chocolate and orange tart with orange cream and caramel syrup

Rum and raisin burnt Cambridge cream with shortbread biscuit

Strawberry and cranberry jelly with strawberry soup and vanilla ice cream

Smoked chocolate fondant with pistachio ice cream and brandy snap

*****

Selection of Shropshire and Welsh cheeses (extra charge)

*****

Freshly brewed coffee with home made petit fours

(Liqueurs and liqueur coffees are available on request)

==============================



Soulton: A Red Tractor Farm

Soulton Hall's private 500 acre farm is part of the ''Red Tractor Assurance'' chain, and the farming operations here are now permited to use the above logo. 

Following the alignment of all 6 farm assurance schemes last year, new logos have been created for what was formaly the Assured Combinable Crops Scheme, in which Soulton has participated for well over a decade.

The member logo above, indicates that the farming operations at Soulton comply with onourous standards which are indendantly inspected. 

Over 78,000 farmers and growers are now members of the scheme, all committed to maintaining high standards of food safety and hygiene, animal welfare and environmental protection. The Red Tractor logo can be spotted on thousands of products such as beef, lamb, pork, chicken, turkey, milk, cheese, cream, cereals, vegetables, sugar, flour, fruit and salads in shops and supermarkets everywhere

See more about the farm at:

http://www.soultonhall.co.uk/soulton/estate_and_woodland.html

Sawday's Newest listing



Soulton Hall is Alastair Sawdays newest lisiting, see www.soultonhall.co.uk/impressions/media_reviews.html

"There's been a house on this land since 1066, but Soulton goes back to 1430, a fortified house that was home to the first Protestant mayor of London. It stands magnificently in 500 acres of pasture and woodland, yours to roam. It's a family affair: John farms, Ann looks after the house.

Climb the steps, slip through a spectacular stone doorway, arrive in the hall, sink in a sofa in front of a fire. Potter about and find an attractive dining room and a cosy bar, but it's the bedrooms in the main house that leave the big impression. You'll find them up an old oak staircase (and you glimpse a section of original wattle and daub on your way up). Four grand country-house bedrooms wait. They come with timber frames, mullioned windows, the odd panelled wall and polished floors; three have fancy bathrooms. It's all splendidly regal, and while simpler bedrooms are also available, it's worth bagging one of these.

Back downstairs, you eat in style, perhaps carrot and coriander soup, lemon sorbet with sparkling wine, chicken cooked with hazelnuts and cream, sticky toffee pudding."

You can see the original entry here.