Downton Distillery

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Downton Distillery Downton Distillery crafts award-winning spirits rooted on the Wiltshire Downs. Our ethos is reuse and conservation. Distilling is not just production.

Celebrating local heritage and provenance, we craft by flavour, built on sustainability. We create award-winning spirits rooted in the Wiltshire Downs. Every bottle reflects provenance, sustainability, and celebrating local flavour. It is product design, some fun with science and storytelling combined. My work focuses on:

• Sustainable spirits and circular production
• Conservation-led collaborations
• Chalk downland botanicals
• Refill systems and packaging reduction
• Building a modern British distillery brand

I believe spirits can carry meaning, not just alcohol. Craft, landscape, and conservation can coexist. Always exploring. Always refining. Always distilling with purpose.

Black tie. London Underground. One very happy journey home.Downton Distillery won the Waste Management & Prevention Awar...
01/10/2026

Black tie. London Underground. One very happy journey home.

Downton Distillery won the Waste Management & Prevention Award and was runner-up for Sustainable Use of Raw Materials at the 2026 Footprint Drinks Sustainability Awards.

For a one-person distillery on the Wiltshire Downs, competing alongside major international drinks businesses and some of the biggest names in the drinks industry, both results mean a great deal. This is a serious industry event, and being recognised among such strong entries is a huge honour.

Our approach starts with practical choices:
• Refill bottles and reuse pouches.
• Turn surplus c***r, grape pomace and w**e lees into spirits.
• Keep finding ways to use materials for longer and waste less.

Every customer who refills a bottle or returns a pouch helps make this work possible. Thank you for supporting us.

And thank you to Alfie for representing Downton and collecting the award. Clearly, black tie suits him.

Have you refilled your bottle yet? Service resumes next week, as Hugh returns from holiday.

RefillAndReuse SustainableSpirits CraftDistillery Wiltshire HampshireFare HampshireFoodAndDrink LocalProducers BritishSpirits DrinkResponsibly

A brilliant example of what happens when two small businesses work together in harmony. Hugh popped over to see Jennifer...
02/09/2026

A brilliant example of what happens when two small businesses work together in harmony.

Hugh popped over to see Jennifer Williams at Naked Jam, bringing with him citrus that had already done its first job at Downton Distillery. Rather than treating the spent fruit as waste, Jen gives it another life, transforming it into her 'Not Wasted' Marmalade.

The result is something genuinely delicious, made from an ingredient that could easily have been thrown away.

As two Hampshire Fare members, we share the same belief that local businesses can achieve far more by working together, sharing resources and finding better uses for what we already have.

Distillery citrus becomes marmalade. Waste is reduced. Something new gets created. And the value stays within our local food and drink community.

There may also have been another reason for Hugh's visit to Naked Jam...

We are keeping that one quiet for now. More soon........................

Those who know me will know I do love my birds, so I’m incredibly excited about this weekend.The Great Bustard Open Day ...
13/08/2026

Those who know me will know I do love my birds, so I’m incredibly excited about this weekend.

The Great Bustard Open Day returns to Enford on 12th & 13th September, and it’s a brilliant opportunity to see and hear about some of the most exciting conservation programmes happening in the country.

I’m particularly looking forward to hearing about the White-tailed Eagle Project. We’ve been incredibly lucky to see these magnificent birds flying near the distillery and it certainly was not a buzzard nor a kite! So I’m keen to learn more about their associated programme.

There’s plenty more across the weekend too. White Storks, going to see the Great Bustards, Dark Skies, breeding waders, wildlife monitoring and rewilding. A pretty impressive line-up.

Then at 4pm on Sunday, I have the pleasure of closing the weekend for Downton Distillery with Great Bustard Gin and ‘The Art of the Martini’.

If September is anything like the scorching weather we’re having now, I think a little something might be needed to keep everyone going.

So, if you’re still with us at 4pm on Sunday, come and finish the weekend with a Martini or two..............🍸

See you at Enford Village Hall. ❤️

03/08/2026

A first for our garden.

I’ve seen Treecreepers in nearby woodland, but never here at the distillery. This little one spent several minutes quietly preening in the morning sunshine before disappearing back into the trees, as I sat below with my morning coffee.

Treecreepers are masters of camouflage. They work their way up tree trunks searching every crevice in the bark for tiny insects before flying to the next tree to start all over again.

It’s moments like this that remind me why we care so deeply about this landscape and the wildlife that calls it home.

What have you spotted in your garden recently? I’d love to hear about your latest wildlife sightings in the comments.

Great flavour is rarely created alone.Our Great Bustard Autumnal Gin has been awarded a prestigious 2 Star Great Taste A...
03/08/2026

Great flavour is rarely created alone.

Our Great Bustard Autumnal Gin has been awarded a prestigious 2 Star Great Taste Award 2026, recognising the care, craftsmanship and collaboration behind every bottle.

Each bottle begins with around 100 fresh English apples from our friends at Cranborne Chase C***r. Their exceptional c***r apples provide the fresh juice that forms the heart of this seasonal gin.

The quince came from the orchard of Martin Nye, former High Sheriff of Wiltshire. Rather than letting a bumper crop go to waste, the fruit found a new purpose, creating a gin that celebrates both flavour and sustainability.

Every bottle is distilled, bottled and labelled by hand on the Wiltshire Downs.

Every bottle also supports Great Bustard conservation, helping protect one of Britain's rarest birds.

Thank you to everyone who has supported this small batch release. Your support allows us to keep creating spirits that celebrate the landscape, reduce waste and tell the stories of the people behind the ingredients.

Here's to great partnerships, remarkable flavour and a shared commitment to making the most of nature's harvest.

***r

Thank you to everyone at the New Forest & Hampshire County Show for putting on another outstanding event. What a fantast...
03/08/2026

Thank you to everyone at the New Forest & Hampshire County Show for putting on another outstanding event. What a fantastic few days.

Congratulations to everyone who stepped into the ring, entered the showing classes, tackled the show jumping, took part in the racing, demonstrated traditional crafts such as blacksmithing, or competed in any of the other events. Whether you came home with a trophy or not, you helped make the Show what it is. Well done for taking part and keeping these traditions alive.

To everyone who stopped by the Downton Distillery stand, sampled our spirits, shared your stories, and supported our small distillery, thank you. It was a pleasure meeting so many wonderful people.

Here's to another brilliant Show. Until next year.

If your bottle is running low and you need a refill, you know where to find us.

Cheers.

What began as an empty space has become one of the busiest places at the distillery. Every day brings something new. Bum...
20/07/2026

What began as an empty space has become one of the busiest places at the distillery. Every day brings something new. Bumblebees work from flower to flower, hoverflies quietly pollinate alongside them, butterflies drift through the borders and insects emerge from places you'd never expect. Even the smallest residents play their part.

The flowers change with the seasons, bringing new colours, new scents and new wildlife. Some visitors stay for months, while others appear for just a few days before moving on.

As evening falls, our Barn Owls take over the night shift, silently watching over the garden as another day comes to an end.



What happens when Lady Martha Sitwell spends the day at Downton Distillery?A walk on the Wiltshire Downs.A garden full o...
16/07/2026

What happens when Lady Martha Sitwell spends the day at Downton Distillery?

A walk on the Wiltshire Downs.
A garden full of botanicals.
Rosehips, fennel, Wu Wei Zi and a few unexpected discoveries.
Plenty of martinis.
Even more laughter.
And a notebook full of ideas.

Whether every idea makes it into a bottle remains to be seen..

Was Martha impressed?
You'll have to ask her.

A brilliant project to bring to life for a client.What you are looking at here is the equivalent of 21,000 bottles of gi...
08/07/2026

A brilliant project to bring to life for a client.

What you are looking at here is the equivalent of 21,000 bottles of gin. It is not finished gin as you would pour it from the bottle. This is a highly concentrated spirit base, closer in principle to a cordial, created to be carefully diluted before bottling.

It is now on its way to the EU, where the final preparation, bottling and brand launch will take place.

There is something satisfying about seeing a project at this scale leave the distillery. Every botanical decision, every distillation run and every detail of the liquid has led to this point.

If you happen to pick up a bottle when it launches, I hope you enjoy drinking it as much as I enjoyed creating it.

Last night I was determined to capture the perfect sunset and moon rise over the distillery following a blistering hot d...
02/07/2026

Last night I was determined to capture the perfect sunset and moon rise over the distillery following a blistering hot day. Nature clearly had other ideas.

As I was trying to take pictures, I looked down and a hedgehog was by my feet. He knew I was there and just carried on, I was too slow and surprised and only got a 'butt' picture..

Moral of the story. Never underestimate the small things. They're often the ones that leave the biggest impression.

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