Hillside Farm is a small holding run by the Plumley family in the East Sussex village of Ashburnham near the historic 1066 town of Battle. Part of Ashburnham Estate, the farmland was rented by David’s grandfather Arthur Bunday back in 1950’s. At its height, nearly 200 acres was farmed including Court Lodge until 1988.
When Arthur died in 1985, his daughter and son-in-law, Sarah & Paul Plumley continued to rent the land grazing a suckler heard, a flock of sheep, pigs, a house cow and chicken. They purchased the adjoining cottage in the late 1980’s where they bought up their only son David in to the farming lifestyle. Sarah was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis at the age of 36 years and a lot of the land was let go, keeping just the 17 acres you see today.
Spring 2014 saw lots of changes on the farm as the big clear up began, with new fencing erected, several old sheds cleared and a new track laid all in preparations for David & Katie’s wedding that summer. A massive transformation that regrettably Sarah missed, after passing away in October 2013, though with her blessing; knew what the plans were for the future of Hillside.
Having hosted a beautiful wedding in the paddock next to the pond in August 2014, David & Katie took the farm on in earnest that November with the main plan to get the smallholding to earn itself a proper living, with Paul helping in the day to day running. The cottage garden was landscaped into a large vegetable garden, some fruit trees planted in a smaller fenced field with free ranging chickens and their big first purchase in 2015 was Archie, the Aberdeen Angus bull to keep the cows happy and help grow the herd.
David and Katie’s main ethos is to rear and grow meat and produce that can sustain and support their family and surplus to sell the passing public and at farmers markets, though things are very much in the early stages there are big plans to diversify in the future, but much more importantly enjoy being part of rural life and the benefits it brings from many years to come.
Hillside Farm 