Scale up planned for Christmas tree growing business
A North Yorkshire business which began growing Christmas trees seven years ago is ready to begin selling them in bulk across the north of England for the first time this festive season.
Stephen Wombwell, owner of the historic Newburgh Priory at Coxwold, and his childhood friend and business partner, Wilf Standeven, have been growing Christmas trees on the estate since 2012.
Ironically, their operation is below the reputed tomb of Oliver Cromwell, who is known for trying to ban Christmas.
Wombwell said he decided to begin growing Christmas trees to diversify the estate’s income shortly after he took over the running of the priory from his father who retired in 2010.
He explained: “If all goes well, I am hoping that in a few years’ time, up to 20% of my income will come from my share of the business, but at the moment it’s a waiting game. We’ve had seven years of growing trees with significant outgoings each year.”
“This year we are starting small and will be harvesting and selling between 1,500 and 2,000 trees, ranging from 5ft-7ft for the cut trees and about 3ft for the potted trees.
“They will be distributed across the north of England and will also be available here at Newburgh and at Methley, near Leeds, part of the Mexborough Estate.
Newburgh is becoming one of the north-east’s biggest Christmas tree growers with 220,000 trees planted across 110 acres.
Popular non-drop Nordmann fir trees make up 80% of its crop. It also grows Fraser firs and Norway spruce plus a variety of potted trees for supermarkets. The company currently sources seedlings from Denmark.
So far, the pair have only sold trees via their own pop-up Christmas shop in the house. However, this year they will start selling wholesale.
“We can do it on a slightly smaller scale this year and practice all the things that are going to get bigger in years to come,” Standeven explained.
The operation at Newburgh currently employs a couple of people but it can grow to up to 12 staff once it plants up to 35,000 trees in the spring. The number of jobs, particularly seasonal jobs, will increase further as the operation expands.
Wombwell said: “We’re going to become a much more labour intensive business and it will end up being quite a good source of employment.”
The Wombwells have owned the priory since 1538 when Henry VIII sold it to one of his chaplains, Anthony de Bellasis, as a “thank you” for helping with the dissolution. His nephew, Sir William, converted it into a home.
Cromwell’s daughter, Mary, married Newburgh’s Lord Fauconberg and is said to have paid a bribe for her father’s headless corpse to be stolen from the walls of the Tower of London.
A vengeful Charles II had Cromwell’s body dug up, beheaded and displayed when he returned from France.
The head is now in Sydney Sussex College, Cambridge. The remains were hidden in the rafters at Newburgh and family tradition states the tomb must never be opened so no-one can verify whether Cromwell is in it or not.
