In 2003 Robert and Debra Evans had a carefully prepared plan – sell the house, uproot the family, leave secure jobs, and set up a microbrewery in the Peak District. Simple? Rob knew he only had one chance to get this right, working hard to find premises suitable to fit in with his dream. Chatsworth suggested he looked at Cunnery Barn on the Chatsworth Estate, the barn buildings were in disrepair, but the potential was obvious; the perfect location for a microbrewery had been discovered!
Two years later in 2005, and after many hurdles including planning, electricity, drainage, renovation, finance, and our very own resident barn owls! The first beer had been brewed, and the owls had a purpose-built nesting box. No other barn owls in Derbyshire have accommodation so grand!
Mighty oaks grow from little acorns as they say, and by 2012 it was becoming clear we’d hit capacity. Keeping up with demand became a challenge. At the end of 2014 we upgraded our brewing equipment to a 20-barrel plant delivered direct from Germany. And moved the main brewery to a purpose-built premise in the picturesque village of Ashford in the Water. The brewery had left the barn, but Cunnery Barn was special! We didn’t want to leave, so a brand-new plan to create a Brewery Visitor Centre & Gin Distillery was created, it would consist of a small 2.5-barrel pilot brewery, a distillery, shop and tasting room plus venue hire options.
Good things come to those who wait, after further renovations and hurdles like those we faced in the beginning, we completed the 1st and 2nd stage of this project by opening our brewery shop and venue hire in 2017 plus installing the 2.5-barrel pilot brewery in 2018, allowing us to experiment with new recipes and beer styles. Our gin still was installed in 2019, and we began distilling in August 2019. It was the start of a new venture. Chatsworth Gin was launched at the Chatsworth Country Fair, the reception for this gin has been incredible so far and it continues to win prestigious awards year on year.
And then it happened … Covid Lockdowns … After what seemed like an eternity and a battle against keeping us going, we made it out the other side. When unfortunately, breweries were closing all around us. We had to decide; do we stay on the Chatsworth Estate at Cunnery Barn? Or take flight, leaving behind nearly 20 years of both love and hard work.
We decided it best to stay at Cunnery Barn as it was part of our identity. However, like everyone else straight after lockdown we were hit with unprecedented increased costs, and in 2024 we had to make the move and bring everything under one roof at our site in Ashford in the Water – Goodbye Mr. Owl and Cunnery Barn …
