Historically, Cowdray has been a fairly conventional rural estate, with long-established uses for the land. The Cowdray family bought it in 1909 and at that stage it had a big house, farms, forestry, cottages for the staff to live in, plus traditional activities such as hunting, shooting and fishing.
First and foremost, estates are purchased as someone's home. But over time, as generations change within families, it becomes necessary to find ways for them to become more sustainable in a business sense. This means continuing to evolve the traditional activities, alongside diversifying further to make use of all the assets the estate has to offer. All the historic activities still underpin the Cowdray estate, but we have also introduced more modern elements, such as leisure, hospitality and events. Activities and ventures such as polo, the golf club, the farm shop, a wellness centre, holiday cottages and events are increasingly becoming a bigger part of the estate's life.
Lord and Lady Cowdray are the current owners of the estate. Since they moved out of the big house in 2011 we've completely refurbished the residence and turned it into a really exclusive venue, primarily focused on residential stays for events such as weddings, private parties, corporate events and as a base for overseas travellers. It's a new direction for Cowdray on our journey to becoming a more modern enterprise, focused on high standards, exceptional customer service and delivering a really unique visitor experience.
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Cowdray sits right in the middle of the South Downs. It's the most beautiful place. More and more we are becoming a destination of choice, with guests that come to visit and spend a lot of time on the estate – to stay in our properties, enjoy country house events, play golf, watch polo, eat on the estate and explore the variety of activities the location has to offer.
Coming to stay at Cowdray House is a real experience because it is a home, not a hotel. There are butlers and housekeepers in the wings, and the standard and service is five-star, but it feels like you are in your own home. We specifically didn't want it to feel like entering a stately home, as though everything should be behind ropes. It needs to feel comfortable, like a house. We also feel it's very important not to overuse the house. It's an exclusive destination and we don't ever want to have one group of guests leaving at 11am and the next turning up at midday – that's completely wrong. We have at least two days between events, so there will never be that kind of crossover as it can really detract from the experience.
There's a big difference between being a business and an out and out commercial entity. While thinking commercially has become a necessity for modern day estates, it is far from being our sole focus. We have very sensitive objectives to do with preserving the community and the environment of the estate. Lord and Lady Cowdray are passionate about wellness, healthy living, and holistic and alternative therapies, so we have converted those interests into a number of ventures on the estate. These ventures include our recently created therapy rooms where 23 different therapists offer treatments ranging from cranial osteopathy to acupuncture, nutritional therapy, mindfulness, and meditation; and a retreat centre where we have lots of interesting people come to deliver seminars and classes. We have opened a juice bar as a little offshoot of the farm shop and we now sell a lot of organic, vegan and gluten-free products. Health and wellbeing runs throughout a lot of what we are doing.
(Image credit: Chris Orange)
We also want to empower the people who work on the estate. We recently implemented a wellbeing programme for all the Cowdray staff, which includes a running club, circuit training sessions made available to all, and everyone is eligible for a massage every two weeks. Lord and Lady Cowdray are very engaged with everyone on the estate, we have about 200 members of staff and they know all of them by their first name. It's a community, not just a workplace.
Sustainability and environmental issues drive how we run our farm. We've adopted the motto 'beyond organic', and have devised an agenda to govern how we manage the farms that we benchmark ourselves against every single month. It is very much focused on animal welfare, reducing chemicals, minimising energy consumption and improving the health of our soil. The big project we are working on at the moment is the introduction of Aquaponic farming. This is a relatively new method of growing fish, spinaches and salad crops on a commercial scale, using a low-energy and chemical-free method. It's very new in the UK and we are very excited about the possibilities it presents.
Cowdray is a really interesting, diverse place to visit, with lots to see and do. We really just want people to come and explore, and enjoy spending their time here.
JONATHAN RUSSELL is CEO of the Cowdray Estate, which lies in the West Sussex countryside, near Midhurst; cowdray.co.uk
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