Description
Kirkham’s Lancashire Cheese
About Kirkham’s Lancashire
If you want to understand what traditional Lancashire cheese is all about, Kirkham’s is a very good place to start.
Made by the Kirkham family at Beesley Farm near Goosnargh, this is the last raw-milk farmhouse Lancashire still being made in its home county. It’s buttery, yoghurty, light and almost fluffy in texture — quite different from the dry, crumbly Lancashire you may have come across elsewhere.
And there’s a reason for that.
Kirkham’s is still made using the traditional Lancashire method, including the wonderfully unusual practice of combining curds made on different days.
Two Days to Make One Cheese
Traditional Lancashire developed on small farms where there often wasn’t enough milk from a single day’s milking to make a whole cheese.
The solution was wonderfully practical: save one day’s curd and combine it with fresh curd from the next.
That two-day curd method became one of the defining characteristics of Lancashire cheese and helps create its distinctive texture — somehow crumbly, creamy and almost fluffy at the same time.
At Beesley Farm, the Kirkham family still make their cheese using raw milk from their own herd. The wheels are wrapped in cloth and buttered before being left to mature, allowing them to breathe and develop their natural rind.
Graham Kirkham is the third generation of his family to make Lancashire this way, and today the Kirkhams are the last farmhouse producers making traditional raw-milk Lancashire in Lancashire.
That’s quite a responsibility.
Creamy or Tasty?
You’ll often hear traditional Lancashire described as either Creamy or Tasty, and essentially we’re talking about age.
Creamy Lancashire is younger, with that wonderful buttery, lactic flavour and soft, yielding texture. Leave it to mature for longer and you get Tasty Lancashire, where the flavours become stronger, deeper and more savoury.
You’ll also see cheeses labelled Crumbly Lancashire, particularly commercially produced versions. They’re generally made using a faster process and are really quite different from the traditional farmhouse cheese.
If you’ve only ever eaten Crumbly Lancashire before, Kirkham’s might completely change what you think Lancashire cheese is supposed to be.
Kirkham’s Lancashire – Jen’s Tasting Notes
The texture is one of my favourite things about Kirkham’s.
It’s crumbly, but it isn’t dry. Instead, it has this wonderful light, moist texture that almost seems to disappear in your mouth.
Then you get the flavour.
There’s fresh yoghurt and butter, a lovely lactic tang and just enough acidity to keep everything lively. Underneath you’ll find a gentle sweetness and, depending on the age of the cheese, increasingly savoury and earthy notes towards the rind.
It’s one of those cheeses that looks relatively simple but becomes more interesting the longer you eat it.
Which is a very good excuse to have another piece.
How to Serve and Pair Kirkham’s Lancashire
- Make sure you take it out of the fridge a good hour before you want to eat it so it can come up to room temperature.
- Classic pairings: A good Chardonnay works beautifully for me. There’s enough body for the creamy cheese, while the acidity works with that lovely yoghurty tang.
- Something a little different: A traditional British ale is difficult to beat. Something malty rather than aggressively hoppy works particularly well.
- On the plate: Forget the grapes for this one. Eccles cake. The buttery, tangy Lancashire with that sticky, spiced currant filling is one of Britain’s great cheese pairings.
- In the kitchen: Kirkham’s is my secret weapon for cheese sauce. It melts into the most wonderfully creamy consistency and brings plenty of flavour without completely taking over. Once you’ve made cheese sauce with proper Lancashire, it’s very difficult to go back.
Jen’s note: My uncle always served Lancashire cheese with Eccles cakes for afternoon tea, so this pairing is particularly special to me. Sweet, buttery, fruity Eccles cake with creamy, tangy Lancashire might sound slightly odd until you try it. Then it makes complete sense.
Buying Kirkham’s Lancashire
- Brand or Producer: Mrs Kirkham’s Lancashire Cheese
- Product name: Kirkham’s Lancashire
- Milk: Cow
- Country: England
- Region: Lancashire
- Strength: Medium
- Vegetarian: No
- Suitable for pregnancy: Yes
- Allergens: MILK
Sizes and Prices
- 100g wedge, £3.70
- 500g wedge, £18.50
- Whole wheel (approx. 5kg), available to pre-order
Storage Advice
- Keep refrigerated
- Wrap in waxed paper or cling film
- Remove from the fridge before serving
- Consume within 10 to 14 days of opening
Delivery and Collection
- UK wide courier delivery
- Click and collect from our Pangbourne shop
- Free local delivery available for selected postcodes
Ingredients (Allergens are listed in capitals)
MILK, salt, starter cultures, rennet
