If you know Newton Court as the home of Newton Court Cider, with its infamous “Honk for Cider” sign, we hope you will be pleased to learn of a new part of this family business – a new restaurant, cafe, farm shop and tour hub, all housed in a purpose built spacious Visitor Centre.  How did Newton Court reach this point?

Newton Court has been in the Stephens family since 1991.  Tom and Ann Stephens took the step of farming organically and also crafting their own cider and perry rather than all the apples being contracted to a local large firm.  Son Paul joined from his background as an agricultural engineer, training with Tom and other producers as a cider maker.

With 157 of organic farmland as its home, Newton Court Cider has developed to showcase one of Herefordshire’s most famous products, be it in bottle, flagon, bag in box or keg.  Ciders are blended or single variety eg Gasping Goose or Yarlington Mill; stronger or more sessionable eg Browns 6.8% or First Press 4.8%; drier or sweeter eg Farmhouse Scrumpy or Little Owl; Newton Court Cider labelled or dual labelled alongside River Cottage.  Initially all cider making activity was conducted alongside the farmyard, using the barns and buildings at the core of the old farm.  In the past decade, new buildings have been erected in a former field on the opposite side of the hamlet lane as the business outgrew the farm buildings.  Investment in sterile filter filling, pasteurising, bottling, bag in box filling and kegging equipment means that the business has a turn key operation from the field to the glass, offering almost all formats suiting different routes to market.

The Stephens family have come together on the Chapel of Apple project to create a Visitor Centre at Newton Court, paying homage to Herefordshire’s magnificent apples, sumptuous cider and local artisan produce.