About Us

Stonehouse Smokery has its roots firmly embedded in the rural countryside of north Cumbria, our 10 acre small holding in the village of Moorhouse is nestled in between the beautiful and wild Solway Firth and the outskirts of Carlisle. We are committed to only using locally sourced meat that’s led the most natural life possible, whether it be naturally reared, rare breed pork. Herdwick mutton from carefully selected Lake District hill farm, or hardy breeds of native breed cattle which can spend all year grazing in the Cumbrian fells.

Being lucky to have been brought up on a hill farm in the beautiful Lake District, I developed a real passion for nature and the great outdoors from an early age, which has continued to grow and compliment my passion for amazing food. After 20 years of honing my skills as a chef in award winning restaurants, from fine dining to casual, continental style eateries, I decided it was time to get out of the kitchen and try my hand at something new and unknown.

Our pigs were born and raised here at Stone House. We don’t believe in weaning them too early and instead we chose to let them naturally wean from their mothers when they are ready. This is usually at around 12 weeks old. We found it’s less stressful for them and their mothers. Our sows only had one litter of piglets a year to allow them a full recovery before having their next litter. Once weaned from their mothers, the young pigs or weaners spent the rest of their time with us in their family group. We kept our charcuterie pigs with us for a minimum of 18 months, feeding them twice a day on crushed barley from our neighbouring farm & Sow and Weaner pellet’s from a mill 11 miles from us. This means we could support our local businesses and kept our food miles incredibly low.

Sadly, all good things come to an end and the end off 2023 saw the end of us rearing our own free range pigs. Having just started a family & having worked tirelessly building the business for the last 9 years, something had to give to allow us to spend more time as a family. We decided to give up the pigs and to focus on the production side of the business. Currently have only able to find one or two sows from farms who keep outdoor pigs. We don’t want to compromise on the quality or the ethical side of what we’ve built here so until we can find a regular supplier we will only be able to sell smaller quantities each product. We’re aiming to have our full range back available for you to buy in the near future. We are developing new products using local beef, mutton & venison which we’ll be getting up on here as soon as they’re ready.

Stonehouse Smokery is at the heart of the up and coming Cumbrian food community. From humble beginnings, Stonehouse Smokery is now a much sought after addition to any event for discerning diners looking for great taste and ethical ingredients.