milk type
Cow
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.
background
our work with this cheese
Accompaniments
Serving Suggestions
Serve chunks of Lancashire with warm Eccles cakes.Makes excellent cheese on toast.
Recipes
Granny's Apple Pie Recipe
We couldn't neglect to include a recipe for Apple Pie. For as Graham Kirkham himself says: ‘Apple pie without cheese, is like a kiss without a squeeze’.Lancashire Tart
The Lancashire Tart is an iconic menu item from 40 Maltby Street, and here we are privileged to present you with the recipe.Lancashire Pesto
For Lancashire Month, we ran a (not very scientific) blind tasting for Neal's Yard Dairy staff of three 'pesto' recipes. Here is the winning recipe, featuring Kirkham's Lancashire!FAQs
How much cheese to buy?
How should I store my cheese?

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


Traditional Lancashire is made using the curds created from several different milkings – a highly unusual approach.
milk type
Cow
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
background
In 1939 there were 202 farmhouse producers of Lancashire. Today, only the Kirkhams 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 and texture. 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.
our work with this cheese
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 10 months. These we will take back to Bermondsey and tend to in our own maturing arches, during which time they will develop a texture that is closer to the crumbly side of 'buttery crumble' and some flavours that are more upfront and punchy.
pairing suggestion
Serve chunks of Lancashire with warm Eccles cakes.
Makes excellent cheese on toast.