Gower Granary is built on the foundations of generations of Welsh family farming

Our mission is to bring you a sustainable range of forage and bedding for the optimum well-being of your animals, straight from our farm on Gower. We are the only makers in Wales of double de-dusted and milled bedding straw, which is an economical and sustainable product that is ideal for horses, cattle and other aninals.

With more than 50 years’ experience in farming and agronomy, we harvest more than 300 acres of quality grass crops a year, which we capture in optimum condition and process in our state-of-the-art production facility. We sell via our stockists, and also direct to larger facilities, and we support all of our customers with reliable service and expert advice. We also offer customers the opportunity to buy local and help reduce carbon impact.

Our family

Originally from Carmarthenshire, this Welsh farming family moved to Gower in the 1960s, when they bought and fell in love with Paviland Farm. Its rich soils and coastal location, lying within sight of Worm’s Head, proved captivating, and so the family has lived and farmed in Gower ever since.

Our farm

As a family with its roots planted firmly in farming, it is fitting too that the farm has a rich farming history. Records for Paviland can be traced back to the 1500s, when it was farmed by the monks of Margam Abbey who grew ‘tithes’ here to feed the poor. In 1823, the ‘Red Lady of Paviland’, the oldest human skeleton ever to be found in Britain, was found in nearby Paviland Cave, which is believed to be the site of the oldest ceremonial burial in Western Europe. Today the cave is only accessible at low tide.

Fast forward to the 1960s and the farm became part of the UK’s first Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and its cliff land was declared a habitat of European importance thanks its rare collection of flora and fauna.

Over recent generations, and with the help of many locals who have worked on the farm, the family has taken advantage of the mild, wet Gower climate and grown top-quality fruit, vegetables and arable crops, which were sold across the UK and abroad. It has also bred award-winning cattle and sheep, and been home to much-loved family horses, including Superted, the scruffy Welsh Mountain pony, who grazes the farm today.

The future

Today, with farmer and agronomist Chris Harry Thomas at the helm, the farm is moving towards regenerative and low impact practices, which will nourish the land for future generations.

Its stunning cliff land, which is crossed by the Wales Coast Path, is conservation grazed with heritage Welsh Black cattle, and is managed in conjunction with Natural Resources Wales. The cattle play a vital role in habitat management and increasing biodiversity, as well as creating delicious, nutritious pasture-fed beef.

The farm has also worked with the National Trust to manage much if its farmland on Gower, including the historic Vile land at Rhossili, which is now famous for its sunflowers, and other wild flowers. These sunflowers were originally planted by the farm to encourage wildlife, but today have become a popular tourist attraction and magnet for photographers, families and naturalists.

Creating natural, sustainable Welsh products, which support the well-being of both humans and animals, is now the next chapter in this Welsh farming story.