About Us

...based in Shalstone near Buckingham. We are (left to right) Chris, Fiona, Ruth and Henry Hilsdon and between us we run Huntsmill Farm. Chris is the farmer, Fiona runs the self-catering cottages, Henry is your man for weddings and Ruth stays behind the scenes doing the marketing and social media.

Chris and Fiona have lived at Huntsmill Farm for over twenty years and some of the land Chris farms has been in the family for four generations. After living in Oxford and working for Oxfordshire County Council Henry decided to move back to the farm and thus weddings at Huntsmill Farm began. The first wedding was in 2011 using a traditional pole and rope marquee which had previously hosted many informal celebrations with family and friends.

Henry popped the question to Ruth in December 2012 and in May 2014 they squeezed in their own wedding at the farm. It was a fabulous day (despite starting with a torrential downpour) and really inspired Henry to create the perfect wedding venue.

After a few summers of back-breaking work putting the marquee up and taking it down again an idea of converting the last barn on the farm’s stunning courtyard began to form in Henry’s mind. Surrounded by beautiful self-catering cottages, the barn had been slightly neglected and was looking a little worse for wear. Work began to convert it into a wedding barn in April 2017 and was completed in April 2018 with the first wedding in May 2018. Now its self-esteem has been restored, along with the stone work, and it is a glorious feature of our lovely courtyard.

Henry and Ruth now have three small children, Hazel, Barnaby and Percy, and a naughty dog called Willow and split their time between caring for their young family and working on the farm with Chris and Fiona.

Photos by Caroline Rushton and Richard Jones.

The project was part funded by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development.