Cropwell Bishop Creamery has been run by Robin Skailes since 2006, but his family has owned and run the business, and been making cheese under other company names, for over 160 years.
In 1847, the current owner, Robin’s, great, great uncle set up ‘A Mathews and Skailes’, a cheese, egg and butter supply company in London. In the 1920’s, Robin’s grandfather joined the business. During the Second World War, regulations around making cheese changed, so ‘Somerset Creameries’ was born, which also operated a Stilton making dairy in Melton Mowbray. In 1949, Somerset Creameries acquired Cropwell Bishop Creamery and meant that the family could add recipes such as Cheddar, Red Leicester and Double Gloucester to their portfolio. In the early 70’s, Somerset Creameries was moved permanently to Cropwell Bishop and all West Country operations were closed down. By the early 80’s, David and Ian Skailes had taken over from their father and began investing all their funds into Cropwell Bishop, while closing down the Melton Mowbray site, which helped to make Cropwell Bishop the highly renowned and respected dairy that it is today.
The cows whose milk goes into all the Cropwell Bishop Creamery cheeses, live on the lush, green fields on the Peak District National Park. A handful of small family dairies keep their animals on this land and each provide the creamery with their milk.
