Farm through the ages

Monks Green is named because it was once a stopping-off point for monks travelling between      St Albans and Colchester. Monks Green Farmhouse itself is a grade II listed building and is said to be a sixteenth-century former open hall house.

In 1871 Monks Green was sold and the land was split into areas. Through the ages it changed hands until 1959 when it was purchased by Peter Ashley and his wife Joyce.

Peter introduced poultry and pigs to the farm in 1960 and farmed 100 acres of arable land. The livestock formed a large part of the farm with the pig enterprise increasing and later with the introduction of beef cattle in 1980s when son William had completed agricultural college.

The farm also expanded at this time to 240 acres as it is today.

The father and son team spent many years building up their farm and like so many farmers have had to adapt. The farm itself has under gone many changes since 1959 and when the final lorry loaded with chickens left the farm in 2013, the units left behind were crying out to be re used and a major conversion project began.

Peter and William embraced diversification, not only converting the poultry houses but also the redundant piggeries and cattle barns which are now luxury homes.

This successful partnership continued with William taking up the reins in the late 1980s and Peter enjoying retirement although he couldn't resist a short walk from the farm house to offer a few words of wisdom.

Peter was well known locally and had a regular column in the local newspaper and had written a book on the ups and downs of a pig farmer ....... The Confessions of An Also-Ran.

Today the farm remains within the ownership of the family and like his father all those years before, William has a vision for the farm which has secured its future for the next generation. Like father like son, William also contributes to the local press from time to time and the Planning Resource Magazine. He's a Director of North Herts Farmers and was once heavily involved in promoting local produce as he was the vice president of the National Market Association.

William has an interest in planning issues and served on the local authority as Chairman of Development Management. His interest grew more following his own diversification projects at the Farm. 

Following these successful projects, William was asked to present at the National CLA Conference, sharing his experiences with an audience of over 500 delegates.

Today, the farm has a healthy mix from hay which feeds the horses in Newmarket to sheep grazing. With son James now playing a role in the farm’s future, with the successful diversification projects, the farm provides an ideal example of how a small family farm can embrace the modern whilst remaining a farm at heart.