Sacrewell launch new brand and website at harvest festival

Do you remember your first trip to Sacrewell Farm? Were you a farming apprentice in the 1960s? Do you have happy memories of family days out at the centre? If so, Sacrewell wants to hear from you as it launches its new look at its annual harvest festival on 13 and 14 September

Sacrewell, formerly Sacrewell Farm and Country Centre, is part of the William Scott Abbott Trust and has rebranded as part of its £1.7m part HLF funded watermill project to try and attract a new visitor base.

Marketing executive Megan Allen explains that it is also the Trust’s 50th anniversary, and a perfect time to bring in the new.

She added: “There’s so much change happening here this year with the Watermill Project, which coincides perfectly with our 50th anniversary, we thought it was time for a new look. It creates an opportunity to capture the last 50 years and look forward to the next 50 as Sacrewell.”

At the harvest festival, staff will be asking visitors to write down their favourite memory of Sacrewell, draw their favourite animal (past or present) or even contribute photographs of themselves at the centre.

The best ones will be chosen to go into a time capsule, along with history of the last 50 years of the Trust, and buried somewhere near the mill house for future generations.

Mrs Allen added: “We were very much branded towards young children and families at the moment, but with the amazing heritage offer we have here at Sacrewell, we’re hoping to attract a wider market.”

The investment in the 18th Century grade II* listed watermill and mill house will create a milling centre for excellence at Sacrewell, allowing visitors to not only see the working watermill in action but to mill and bake their own bread.

It will also create apprenticeships and further training opportunities for the community, as well as volunteering roles from historic re-enactment to gardening.

Mrs Allen said: “We thought the harvest festival would be a great place to launch the new brand and website because the event captures everything that we are about here at Sacrewell. We’re embracing the countryside, its history and traditions, as well as looking towards the way farming will change in the future.”

The new waterwheel at Sacrewell will incorporate a hydroelectric generator which will feed electricity back into the National Grid, making Sacrewell’s new building sustainable and productive.
Attractions at the harvest festival include corn dolly making, falconry, Shire horse and vintage ploughing demonstrations, dog and duck show, mill project tours, real ales and cider and local craftsmen selling their wares.

The event will run from 9.30 am to 5 pm each day. For more information visit www.sacrewell.org.uk