About Us

Having moved to Somerset and looking for a new and exciting venture, we were delighted to be given the opportunity to take over Mendip Lavender from its founders, neurologist Tony Wilson and potter Rowena Kinsman.

We had always loved visiting the lavender field in the Mendip Hills and little realising that one day it would be ours. We grow seven types of lavender, each has very distinctive properties, aroma and appearance. Six are Lavandula angustifolia 'Twickel Purple', 'Imperial Gem', 'Hidcote', 'Folgate', 'Maillette', 'No9' and one Lavandula x intermedia 'Grosso'.

We feel privileged to be growing lavender here on the Mendips; all our plants are grown without any chemical intervention or fertilizers, we even harvest by hand. This ensures we do not upset the balance of nature and our many wild neighbours, such as hares, deer and insects.

We distil the flowers ourselves enabling us to leave the shortest time possible between harvest and oil production. This preserves the integrity of the oil ensuring it is of the highest possible therapeutic quality.

Unlike many plants, lavender thrives in harsh conditions; imagine them clinging to stony outcrops in the baking heat of the Mediterranean sun and continually grazed by goats. To mimic this struggle, once the lavender is harvested it is cut back hard.