12 CUMBRIAMay 2009
Breathing new life into
an eighteenth century
innovator's farm legacy
W
orkington has crept
up behind Schoose
Farm over the last
two centuries, but
most people pass its ornate
gateposts with no idea of
what lies beyond them.
It was built as a pioneering
model farm in the 18th century
by John Christian Curwen, a
cousin of famous Bounty muti-
neer Fletcher Christian, just as
the agricultural revolution was
gathering steam.
He was a coal mine owner,
industrialist, agricultural scien-
tist and radical politician with
socialist leanings, who went on
to serve Carlisle as MP for 40
years.
Mr Curwen had some `revo-
lutionary' ideas, which included
feeding his work horses
steamed potatoes because they
were quicker to eat than tra-
ditional forage and took up less
acreage.
He is believed to have been
the first farmer to use crop rota-
tion (known as the Norfolk sys-
tem) in Cumbria and to employ
women on an equal footing with
men as well as introducing sick
pay to the county.
Now, more than 200 years
after Mr Curwen created the
farm, John Bowe is breathing
new life into his legacy.
The byres, lofts and arches
which have endured two cen-
turies of the lashings of west
Cumbrian wind and rain are
being lavished with attention.
The Department for Environ-
ment Food and Rural Affairs
(Defra) is spending hundreds of
thousands of pounds on the
buildings through the Country-
side Stewardship scheme.
It is the biggest project of its
kind to date in England �
�300,000 will be spent on the
roofs alone.
Work started in January on
the Grade II listed buildings
and, once finished, John plans
to use them to store crops
because modern machinery is
too big to fit inside them.
John and his father bought
the farm in 1997 when the Cur-
wen estate was hit by crippling
death duties and was forced to
sell six farms.
Steady ownership has helped
preserve the numerous historic
buildings, including the stone
arches once used to display live-
stock when Schoose hosted the
Northern Agricultural Show.
It is believed the stock was
kept in the arches to protect them
from the weather during long
show days. These will also be
restored for future generations as
part of the renovation work.
There was a unique vaulted
dairy to keep the milk and
cheese cool.
The cows have gone, but the
building still stands. Pits were
built to drain off the liquid slur-
ry, which was used by Mr Cur-
wen to soak the manure heaps.
He experimented with Alder-
ney and Ayrshire dairy breeds,
but preferred the Durham
Shorthorn.
He tried feeding them oil cake
to enrich the milk and he was
one of the first farmers to sup-
ply milk throughout the winter.
This ensured a regular supply
for local school children, which
improved their health and
helped banish rickets.
In 1801, he used cabbages and
swede to supplement the hay
but found it was changing the
accepted taste of the milk. He
added saltpeter to the milk and
reduced feed costs by 10p a cow.
A diary entry in 1812 record-
ed his progression into dairy
processing: "My dairy cows
calved too late which caused me
to have an abundance of milk
during the summer that I could
not dispose of and I was obliged
to manufacture it."
He produced cream and
cheese to sell to local shops.
Pat Coyle, of Castle Lodge,
has researched Mr Curwen's
life and read through his metic-
ulous diaries.
She said: "Farms were losing
money and he wanted to make
them profitable. He even used
wind and waterpower.
"He built a watermill to drive
the steamer to steam the pota-
toes he used to feed the animals.
"There was a three-day show
here that was believed to be one
of the first agricultural shows
in England."
The original bellows used in
the smithy will be put back as
part of the restoration. The tools
and anvil were also untouched
in the building, which hasn't
been used for decades.
John, 60, has lived at Schoose
all his life; his grandfather
moved there as a tenant in 1934.
He keeps breeding sheep and
grows oilseed rape, wheat and
barley on 600 acres on owned
and rented land.
There are also a few potatoes,
which are sold in local shops �
and not fed to the livestock.
While some of Curwen's
experiments have fallen by the
wayside, much of what is taken
for granted on hundreds of
Cumbrian farms originated
from his `outlandish' ideas.
John said: "The big buildings
including the mill were falling
into ruins, but the Defra project
means they will be put back to
what they were.
"This is the biggest project
they have going in England at
the moment. If English Heritage
puts these listings on, someone
has to pay to protect these
buildings."
Crippling renovation costs, he
believes, played a major part in
the Curwen family's decision to
sell the farm.
John considers his predeces-
sor a man of vision who was
instrumental in introducing
some major advancements in
Cumbrian agriculture.
"He was a forward-thinking
man. He was the first in the coun-
try to take a tax off his workers'
wages and use it for sick pay.
"He even went to Europe and
studied their ideas. He was
probably the leading light in the
north of England. He rotated his
crop just like we do now. I sup-
pose I do some things the way
he used to," John said.
Schoose was one of the three
biggest model farms built in the
country. It was some distance
from Workington originally, but
urban sprawl has brought
neighbours to within a stone's
throw of the farmhouse.
The Great Clifton bypass was
the latest road to cut through
the farmland, but Schoose has
staying power while, all around
it, farms have disappeared one
by one.
John added: "Mr Curwen laid
solid foundations. I wouldn't say
I'm as forward-thinking as him,
but we keep the farm profitable
using lots of the methods he
introduced."
A former model farm in Workington is receiving a massive cash
injection from Defra. Anna Burdett pays a visit to find out more
Looking back: Local historian Pat Coyle discusses the farm's history with current owner John Bowe
Ahead of its time: A drawing of Schoose Farm in the 18th century
John Bowe: 'If English
Functional: Despite the age of the
buildings, Schoose is a working farm
FarmingLife

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