Kirkham's Lancashire

Kirkham's Lancashire

Best known for its inimitable crumbly-yet-creamy texture – a texture the Kirkham family call ‘buttery crumble’ – this raw milk farmhouse Lancashire boasts a bright, full flavour finished off by a light, yoghurty tang. 

 

Portion
Regular price £12.20
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  • Spend over £39.50 to receive free delivery (England, Wales & Central Scotland)

Standard delivery is free to most postcodes in the UK for orders over £39.50. Click here for a list of postcodes where additional delivery charges apply.

For orders under £39.50, standard delivery is £8.00.

Collection from our London shops is free - choose Shop Collection at checkout.

Choose your preferred delivery date at checkout. As we use third party couriers (typically DPD) we cannot guarantee the arrival day of your order but we will do our best to ensure that it arrives as close as possible to your chosen date. To be sure it arrives in time, we recommend choosing a date a couple of days ahead of when you would like to eat your cheese. 

milk type
Cow

ingredients
Raw Cow's MILK, Salt, Cheese Cultures, Animal Rennet

coagulant
Animal Rennet

milk treatment
Raw

location
Near Goosnargh, Lancashire

milk source
Own herd

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milk type
Cow

ingredients
Raw Cow's MILK, Salt, Cheese Cultures, Animal Rennet

coagulant
Animal Rennet

milk treatment
Raw

location
Near Goosnargh, Lancashire

milk source
Own herd

breed
Holstein

season
All year

average age
3-4 Months

cheesemakers
Graham Kirkham

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Traditional Lancashire is made using the curds created from several different milkings – a highly unusual approach which lends complexity to the flavour of the cheese.

Background

In 1939 there were 202 farmhouse producers of Lancashire. Today, only the Kirkham family remain, with Graham Kirkham the third generation to follow in his family's footsteps by making raw milk Lanc...

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In 1939 there were 202 farmhouse producers of Lancashire. Today, only the Kirkham family remain, with Graham Kirkham the third generation to follow in his family's footsteps by making raw milk Lancashire according to the traditional method. This involves combining curds from several days' milkings – an approach as unique as it is time consuming, having originated in the days when Lancashire farms were much smaller, and didn't have enough cows to make cheese on a daily basis. But it's well worth the effort for the resulting complexity of taste. We have worked closely with the Kirkhams for over 30 years, beginning when Graham's father John managed the cows and his mother Ruth was responsible for the cheesemaking, and we look forward to many more years of this treasured territorial cheese.

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Our Work

Every month we visit Beesley Farm, taste our way through the batches of Kirkham's Lancashire that are one to two months old, and select those we think are best for us. The majority of these will be...

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Every month we visit Beesley Farm, taste our way through the batches of Kirkham's Lancashire that are one to two months old, and select those we think are best for us. The majority of these will be sold the following month, when the cheese is just three or four months old and the flavours are fresh and gentle, but a few cheeses will lend themselves to a longer maturation period of approximately nine to twelve months. These we will take back to Bermondsey and tend to in our own maturing arches, to become Mature Kirkham's Lancashire. During maturation they will develop a texture that is closer to the crumbly side of 'buttery crumble' and some flavours that are more upfront and punchy.

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our-work: Graham Kirkham turning blocks of curd in the vat

Graham Kirkham turning blocks of curd in the vat

our-work: The Kirkham's Lancashire dairy

The Kirkham's Lancashire dairy

our-work: Filling the Kirkham's Lancashire cheese moulds with curds

Filling the Kirkham's Lancashire cheese moulds with curds

Accompaniments

Damson Paste - 200g Slice
£10.40

Rosebud Piccalilli Chutney
£7.00

Serving Suggestions

Serve chunks of Lancashire with warm Eccles cakes.

Makes excellent cheese on toast.

Recipes

Eva's Kirkham's Lancashire, Leek and Cockle Croquettes

We asked our colleagues how they like to cook with cheese at home and we received this dish from Eva who works in our Retail Team.  On a trip to Wales over the summer I ate a delicious Caerphilly, ...

Mini Mature Kirkham’s Lancashire and Onion Tarts

Makes approx. 20-24 tarts  Ingredients  For the base:  100g each wholemeal flour and white self-raising flour  100g cold butter  Salt and pepper  Cold water  For the filling:  20g butter  2 medium ...

Mushroom & Mature Kirkham's Lancashire Omelette by Laura Jackson

To celebrate the launch of our Melting Selection, we've dug out some of our favourite recipes that feature the cheeses in our selection.  Laura is head chef at Towpath Cafe. She is a truly brillian...

FAQs

As a general rule of thumb, we would recommend roughly between 100 and 150 grams per person for after dinner, and a bit more if cheese is the focus of the meal. If you are buying cheese to serve over a couple of days or as part of a buffet, it is advisable to buy a few larger pieces. This will both look better and keep better than many small bits. To help visualise weights, a good tip is to consider that a regular supermarket pat of butter weighs between 200 and 250 grams. If you are at all unsure please give us a call for some advice.

The best option is to keep your cheese wrapped in its paper within a box in the fridge. This will prevent the cheese from drying out and absorbing other flavours. Your cheese will arrive wrapped in waxed cheese paper, which achieves the best possible balance between maintaining humidity around the cheese and allowing it to breathe. We are happy to provide some free extra cheese paper, just search for "cheese paper" and add it to your basket. We don't recommend cling film or foil as it can cause the cheese to sweat which will negatively affect the flavour.

Customer Reviews

Based on 31 reviews
87%
(27)
10%
(3)
3%
(1)
0%
(0)
0%
(0)
S
Sarah Holden
Big cheese

Great to have cheese in big pieces - perfect for our recent party with rave reviews from our guests

A
Alex Webber

Kirkham's Lancashire

Many thanks for your review Alex!
Best wishes,
NYD

A
AdamG
Don’t be fooled

You can get a cheese called Kirkham’s Lancashire from other shops, but the product from Neal’s Yard is on another level. Made with raw milk, this is one of the finest cheeses in the world, from one of the finest cheese shops in the world.

We appreciate your feedback Adam. Thank you so much for sharing it!
All the best,
NYD

A
Andrew Short
Grilled cheese done right

A great tasting cheese in its own right but in a grilled sandwich it is the best. Has a nutty almost blue cheese flavour to it. Used my last bit yesterday on a. Cheese and pickle sandwich. Delicious

We appreciate your feedback Andrew. Thank you so much for sharing it!
All the best,
NYD

M
Mark Owens

Kirkham's Lancashire

Many thanks for your review Mark - much appreciated.
All the best,
NYD