Mantel Farm is a family run smallholding shop, training facility, venue and animal boarding service in the heart of the East Sussex countryside.
Our aim is to support our family in as low-impact and sustainable way as possible, we run a small-scale family business, only selling products we have used ourselves and animals we have experience in keeping whilst working with local craftspeople to share traditional rural crafts.
Our story…
Mantel Farm was historically a poultry farm, producing poultry and eggs to the commercial market since the 1940s. We (Jason and Kerry) have lived at Mantel Farm with our two sons since 2002, the previous owners having retired. We have always aimed to live as sustainably as possible, in the late 1990s and early 2000s this was a bit odd! our friends and family we are sure thinking we were crazy, missing out on the so called ‘luxuries’ to buy and grow organic food, giving up well paid jobs to struggle on our little patch of land – But it has been worth it – Mantel Farm was our dream; our home, and we have had an incredible journey (so far!)…
We have kept many animals since we have lived here, including of course lots of chickens, we have grown as much fruit and veg as possible, initially selling our eggs and preserves at local markets and then our shop within the poultry barn. The business was gradually built through the years with the help of our fantastic family, friends, staff and tutors, growing and changing along the way and so incorporating the many aspects we have enjoyed learning ourselves. We hope we can encourage you to try this special way of life, you don’t need a farm to live a low-impact life, any reasonable sized garden can be home to a few hens for really fresh eggs or a beehive for some honey. We can all garden in a way that helps the nature around us and can enjoy learning a new skill from our local craftspeople, helping to keep traditional crafts alive.
Our location…
Mantel Farm is in East Sussex, on the outskirts of the historic town of Battle in the hamlet of Henley Down, between the villages of Catsfield and Crowhurst. For our full address, directions and opening hours please visit our contact us page.
At the farm…
As well as our shop we can offer local deliveries in our electric van, an out of hours locker-collection service at our farm and courier delivery. Cluck and collect
We offer regular training courses in our relaxed rural venue, from chicken keeping to willow weaving – so take some time out to join us in our relaxed setting learning a new skill
Our Garden Canopy offers the perfect place for you hold your own workshop or simply meet up, with indoor and outdoor areas, a projector and flexible seating arrangements surrounded by nature, why not book some time of your own on our farm?
Find out more…
We would love to send you our latest information, launches, news and special offers for your garden farm, why not subscribe to our newsletters (we don’t overdo it! and you can unsubscribe at any time: Subscribe to our newsletter
We regularly pop updates and pictures on our social-media channels and love to see your photos and stories so please keep in touch with us on facebook and Instagram.
As well as little clips from around the farm we regularly capture clips of our bees in our short apiary update videos, as well as covering more in depth topics to help with your beekeeping. Why not have a watch of our YouTube videos.
Although we try to keep our website up to date with all our products and information, we are mainly an old fashioned ‘real-shop’ in the countryside and we welcome you to pop along, browse our products, see the animals and meet our team. Our shop opening hours can be found on our contact us page.
We always aim to do our best for our customers and we are proud of our many 5star reviews on trustpilot
And of course, we are here to help in the traditional way, we welcome you to give us a call or pop into our shop.
Meet the Team
Jason Weller
Co-Owner
Jason is the co-owner of Mantel Farm and our expert in chicken care, he has written many articles for our website and magazines and gives training and talks at shows and events, sharing his experience and stories along with his expertise. He makes our chicken enclosures, designing and installing many chicken runs in gardens, building on his background in Structural Engineering.
Kerry Weller
Co-Owner
The co-owner of Mantel Farm. Often found in the office through necessity, Kerry loves being outside whenever possible. After 20 years commuting to London she swapped a Procurement Manager job for full time life on the smallholding, aiming to bring up the family to live a modern life but with a strong appreciation and respect for the environment around us.
Bertie Weller
Owner’s Son
Jason and Kerry’s eldest son. Bertie now works full time in electrical engineering but lives nearby and always helps where he can. He is our tech expert; often coming to our rescue with IT issues as well as building chicken runs with his Dad. With lots of chicken keeping experience he is always keen to share his knowledge in the shop, at shows and on his training courses.
Ernie Weller
Owner’s Son
Ernie is Kerry and Jason’s youngest son and works in the shop most Sundays. Being brought up at Mantel Farm he has spent many hours photographing the animals and flowers here. Now studying Horticulture, he has created our ‘Bee-Garden’ and helps us generally with planting around the farm as well as the photography and design work for our website.
Josh Dean
Animal Manager
Josh is our Farm Animal Manager and does a great job keeping our animals happy and healthy. He spends much time in our Apiary, either tending to the bees, or producing our Apiary video clips and has gained much knowledge of these incredible insects. Josh can also be found working in the shop advising customers on beekeeping and poultry care.
Dan
Dan looks after the customer side of our business, keeping the shop well-stocked, answering customer enquiries and posting out mail-orders. He has a wealth of chicken keeping knowledge and cares for all the animals. Dan has spent many years here, joining us part-time when he was still at School. He is a keen gardener and studying for an Environmental Degree.
Tracy Docksey
Office Manager
Tracy works in our office, keeping everything running smoothly behind the scenes. She deals with the day-to-day bookkeeping and telephone enquiries and keeps everyone informed as to what’s going on via our social media sites. Tracy has kept chickens in her back garden for a very long time, once encouraging her younger sister Kerry to sell chickens from Mantel Farm!
Fred
Fred works hard behind the scenes carrying out much needed maintenance work around the farm, helping to keep our buildings and animal pens going. He also constructs the chicken run panels and installs chicken housing with Jason. Fred is also responsible for our local delivery rounds, going out regularly in our electric van.
Roger
A much-appreciated friend and volunteer at the farm, Roger is our beekeeping expert, working with Josh to keep our Apiary strong for our beginner’s beekeeping courses. Roger can often be found in our shop advising customers and is passionate about the environment; always experimenting with new plants and nurturing the nature around him.
Meet the Tutors
Jill Sales
Tutor
Jill has been teaching professionally for many years and helping new beekeepers enjoy this skill. She keeps several colonies of bees and is the training coordinator for Hastings and Rother Beekeeping Association. Jills kind, engaging and professional teaching style is perfect for beginners to gain a basic understanding of this complex subject.
Alex Hodges
Tutor
Alex is the Project Officer for the Bee Connected project at the Bumblebee Conservation Trust. In 2022, he completed his master’s in Conservation and biodiversity at the University of Exeter and has worked on the project since February 2023. His role includes working with landowners and farmers across south Kent and East Sussex to promote bumblebees and other pollinators, managing the project’s volunteers, Carrying out bumblebee and wildflower surveys and delivering talks and ID workshops.
Dr Nikki Gammons
Tutor
Nikki is the Project Manager for the Short-haired bumblebee project at the Bumblebee Conservation trust. She has worked on the reintroduction of this extinct bumblebee since 2009 and joined the Trust full time on the project in 2015. Her role includes working with landowners and farmers across south Kent and East Sussex, supported by volunteers for the project delivering bumblebee monitoring. Nikki has delivered many workshops and talks at local associations and events and in her spare time she enjoys traveling, walking & reading.
Robin, Chris and Caleb
Tutors
Our Trug Makers are from Thomas Smith’s Trug Shop which has been in existence for 190 years. Robin Tuppen started making Trugs back in 1983 and is now a Grand Master Trug Maker and a member of the Basket makers’ Association and a Yeoman Member of the Worshipful Company of Basket makers.
Chris has been making Trugs for about 20 years and has successfully guided three apprentices through their training in order to become a Master Craftsman. Caleb is currently tutoring two apprentices; one is almost ready to start his third and final year and the second is a first-year apprentice.
Mike Cullen
Tutor
Mike is a Master Beekeeper. He has been keeping honeybees since 1972 and these days manages multiple apiaries. He is the ex-chairman and current President of the Hastings & Rother Beekeeping Association, a member of the BBKA examination board and an examiner for the BBKA Basic and General Husbandry examinations.
Maggi Pratt
Tutor
Maggi has been involved with bees for almost 40 years and runs many workshops at local Beekeeping events for both adults and children. With a wealth of knowledge, she is always happy to share her enthusiasm, giving advice using her many years of experience. She has always been keen on making products with minimum additives, initially food products, but in recent years, she has been on a training course to learn how to make her own moisture cream and recently bought the license to enable her to sell to the public.
Oliver St.John
Tutor
Oliver has been keeping bees for many years and was one of the first beekeepers in Sussex to pass the BBKA’s Honeybee Health assessment and is working his way through the other assessments and exams to hopefully one day become a Master Beekeeper. An Army Instructor during his time in the British Army – he now teaches various beekeeping courses across the County as well as being the Education Coordinator for East Grinstead Beekeepers Association.
Emma Purcell
Tutor
Emma makes baskets, sculptural forms and cordage, mostly from willow but also from Rush and salvaged materials. Based in East Sussex, Emma grows and harvests her own willow bed, as well as foraging materials from the landscape, everything Emma crafts is by hand. Seeing the role of baskets in the twenty-first century as somewhat niche… Emma attempts to preserve their place as aesthetic and functional forms, harnessing beauty, nature and craftsmanship in an age of mass-produced, disposable plastic vessels.
John Waller
Tutor
John has been involved with the environment, ecology, woodland management,and conservation since 1990. He originally volunteered with various conservation groups and was employed at Bore Place as a Conservation Officer to manage the 60 acres of woodlands and run the Green Wood Workshop. A fully qualified tree surgeon and coppice worker, John makes a range of woodcraft products, runs courses and offers woodland advice and tree surgery across Kent, Sussex, Surrey and South London.
Mollie Docksey
Tutor
Mollie has been working as a holistic therapist since May 2019 using aromatherapy and massage to help reduce stress, tension and make you feel like a new person. She studied Level 3 Aromatherapy and Body Massage at Brighton Holistics and continued her studies by completing a Level 3 Advanced Deep Tissue Qualification. She is a member of the Federation of Holistic Therapists (FHT). ‘Mollie Florence Holistics’ is based in ‘The Hive’ at Mantel Farm, offering holistic therapy and skincare products.
Jason Weller
Co-Owner
Jason is the co-owner of Mantel Farm and our expert in chicken care, he has written many articles for our website and magazines and gives training and talks at shows and events, sharing his experience and stories along with his expertise. He makes our chicken enclosures, designing and installing many chicken runs in gardens, building on his background in Structural Engineering.
Bertie Weller
Owner’s Son
Jason and Kerry’s eldest son. Bertie now works full time in electrical engineering but lives nearby and always helps where he can. He is our tech expert; often coming to our rescue with IT issues as well as building chicken runs with his Dad. With lots of chicken keeping experience he is always keen to share his knowledge in the shop, at shows and on his training courses.
Josh Dean
Animal Manager
Josh is our Farm Animal Manager and does a great job keeping our animals happy and healthy. He spends much time in our Apiary, either tending to the bees, or producing our Apiary video clips and has gained much knowledge of these incredible insects. Josh can also be found working in the shop advising customers on beekeeping and poultry care.
